


Ask Lavender

by Ely_Baby



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anal Sex, Cousin Incest, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fanart, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Jealousy, Oral Sex, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Sexual Tension, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-18 12:55:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 318,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5929222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ely_Baby/pseuds/Ely_Baby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily is dismayed when she's given Lavender's Agony Aunt Column at the Prophet as her first job. Luckily, she can count on Hugo's help to tackle even the most embarrassing of letters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> READ THIS FIRST, PLEASE. IT'S RATHER IMPORTANT:
> 
>  
> 
> This story is my guilty pleasure. I wrote this last year and kept reading and re-reading it for months. It's cheesy, silly, clichéd, and all the negative qualities that might come to mind when you think about a romance. But it's my OTP and I love it. It's unbetaed because I don't have the heart to ask anybody to go through this with a critical eye (I'm not a mother-tongue). It's long - 35 chapters, I'm too scared to do a word count, we'll find that out together - but the "good" news is: it's finished! Another good thing is that there's cousin incest and sex long before they - SPOILER ALERT! - officially get together. He he. 
> 
> I considered protecting this fanwork with all sorts of features that AO3 offers: Only show your work to registered users | Disable anonymous commenting | Enable comment moderation. But I don't like to restrict other people's freedom of expression. Please, be mindful, though. If you hate this, don't flame it. If you don't have anything nice to say, just don't say anything. If this gets too many negative comments, I'll take it down. No hard feelings. But there are so many other works on this archive, I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will tickle your fancy. Thank you!
> 
> This time, I don't have a time-table to post the chapters, but the story will be complete before May 31.

***

Lily Luna Potter opened her eyes on her new life on Monday, 22 June 2026. She stretched her arms over her head, rubbed her face and yawned, feeling ready and at the same time supremely unready to tackle that new life.

She pushed her covers away and dragged herself towards the unfamiliar bathroom. Most of her toiletries were still packed in one of her many toilet bags, which were still probably packed into one of the many boxes that littered her room and part of the living room.

She shed her pyjamas, letting them fall to the floor and blindly grabbed a green bottle. She turned on the water and waited patiently for it to become warm. As she did, she brought the bottle to her nose and squinted her eyes to read the label.

 _Oliver Wood’s Head and Body Wash. To smell and play like a real Quidditch player_.

She considered wandering the flat naked to find her own shower gel and shampoo, but it was too early to start a treasure hunt. And after all, she was sure her flatmate wouldn’t mind that much if she used a drop or two. And she could always lend him some strawberry-scented shampoo and vanilla body oil; he had no reason to refuse. The oil left the skin as soft as that of a baby and the shampoo made all knots miraculously disappear.

She finally stepped into the shower and sighed under the boiling hot water. She took her time lathering up her hair and body, wondering how much time she had before there was a knock on the door and her flatmate’s voice told her to hurry up, that he was late for Quidditch trainings down in Dorset.

It never happened. She had the time to flood half of the bathroom as she stepped out, to cover every single inch of the mirror and the wall in steam, and to leave wet footprints from the bathroom to her room.

She stood in front of her dresser, looking for clean underwear for a good five minutes before she remembered that she hadn’t unpacked that either, having been too busy in the past two days to organise their House Warming Party rather than… well, _unpack_.

She found her wand amongst her covers and Summoned knickers and a bra from somewhere in the flat before pondering whether she needed to wear something or she could step into the kitchen in her underwear. 

She concluded that her flatmate had already seen her wearing a bikini at Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur’s house, and they had taken baths together at Grandma Molly’s when they were little, and he had walked on her while in the shower more than once.

Bra and knickers were more than fine for breakfast; plus her thick hair would cover her up to her waist, and the table would do the rest. She murmured a drying charm with the wand pointed to her head before stretching her arms over her head and finally making her way towards the kitchen.

She almost tripped over one of her boxes and cursed under her breath before reaching for the fridge. It was unsurprisingly empty, except for a carton of milk that Lily couldn’t remember being there the night before. She grabbed it anyway, and turned to look at the kitchen, without having a clue about where to find any cereals. In case there even were cereals at all in that kitchen, naturally.

She considered Summoning them, but what if they had been already opened? She had once made that mistake and then had to fish out cereals from her hair for a week.

She placed the milk on the small island that doubled as a breakfast table and blinked. An intact box of her favourite cereals was there, with a clean bowl and a spoon, and a piece of kitchen paper.

Apparently, that little display was waiting for someone, and she could bet her broomstick that it was waiting for her.

She sat down, moved the bowl closer to the box and opened it deftly before pouring some cereals inside. She dragged the bowl back and blinked again, staring at the little note that she had uncovered under the cereal bowl.

> _Go get them, Tiger (Lily) – H xx_

She smiled at it, suddenly feeling rather loved.

She poured herself some milk and brought the first spoonful to her mouth, making the cereals crunch under her teeth.

Then, suddenly, something made its way into her brain and she stood up, bowl in one hand and spoon in the other.

“Hugo?” she called loud enough to be heard throughout the whole flat.

There was no reply. She started wandering for the flat, walking closer and closer to his bedroom. “Hugo?” she called again.

Still no reply.

She reached his door and knocked with her foot before deciding to push it open.

Hugo’s bedroom was absurdly clean and tidy. There were no boxes lying about, his bed had already been made, his window was open and there wasn’t a single article of clothing out of place. He had already decorated it with posters of Quidditch players and memorabilia from their Hogwarts years, his Gryffindor scarf, and a picture of the Gryffindor Quidditch team winning the Cup. Lily was in that one, too.

She came to the conclusion that he had already left for his first day of Quidditch trainings, and she wondered if he had been super quiet not to disturb her – she smiled at that, a refreshing thought after having lived with her brothers all her life – or if she had slept like a rock.

She shrugged a shoulder. She made a mental note to thank him that evening when he came back from the trainings and she was – _hopefully_ – already working on her first piece.

She smiled again, brought another spoonful to her mouth, and glanced at the alarm near Hugo’s bed.

Then, she cursed out loud and almost choked on the rest of her breakfast as she tried to get ready and get herself to the Daily Prophet in ten minutes.

The time she had before her interview.

***

“You’re late! Oh my word, is that what you’re wearing? You only have half of your makeup done! Is that cereal in your hair?”

Lily pushed the pile of articles into her mother’s arms and tried to gulp down some hair as she fumbled with her handbag, rummaging through its contents to find her pocket mirror. “Where?” she gasped.

Her mother let the pile of parchment fall onto a chair and started to comb her fingers into Lily’s hair, tossing the dodgy cereals into a nearby wastebasket.

“Thank you, Mum,” she muttered, still trying to catch her breath. She tried to look at her reflection to understand where she was missing some makeup, and she found her bottom lip lacking the same pink shade that she had applied to her upper one. While one of her eye had no mascara at all.

“Is this… is this a new shampoo?” asked her mother, smelling her hair. “Hmm… musky…”

“It’s Hugo’s,” replied Lily distractedly. “I still haven’t unpacked my stuff.”

Her mother produced a brush out of her own bag and started to comb through Lily’s hair more forcefully. “And I bet he has,” she replied, shaking her head. “Why can’t you be a bit more judicious, Lily? I bet he has already unpacked everything, as it should be, since you two moved in there three days ago.”

“Yes,” sighed Lily, rolling her eyes. “Yes, he unpacked everything; he left before I even woke up and he even made me breakfast, and left me a good luck note.”

Her mother swoon at that. “Whoever’s going to—”

“—to marry that boy is in for a treat,” Lily finished for her, snapping her pocket mirror closed and turning to grab her articles again. “What’s wrong with my dress?” she asked, looking down at her sleeve-less, flowery dress and her sandals.

Her mother tried to smile. “Nothing,” she replied. “You just look like you’re going to the beach and not about to have an interview with the Daily Prophet editor in chief.”

Lily’s face darkened. “Next time, I’ll ask Hugo to lay out my clothes for me,” she grunted.

“Great idea,” agreed her mother, ignoring the sarcasm in her voice.

Lily had just the time to half-roll her eyes before the door at her back burst open and a resounding voice called, “Lily Luna Potter!” Then her mother kissed her, whispered a, “Good luck,” and finally pushed her through the door of the editor in chief’s office with a little shove on her back.

***

“Mr Quills, thank you for giving me the opportunity of interviewing for a position here at the Prophet, I’ve been dying to—”

“Yes, yes, you’ve been dying to become a journalist ever since you started writing or something,” he grunted, sitting at his desk and gesturing for her to sit opposite to him. He raised his little eyes on her and Lily smiled wide, her fingers clutching nervously over the pieces of parchment in her hands.

He narrowed his eyes and seemed to stare at her face for a long moment. “You have lipstick…”

“On my teeth?” she asked anxiously, looking for her pocket mirror once more.

“No, on your cheek.”

She opened the pocket mirror with shaky hands and glared at the lip mark that her mother had left on her cheek. “I’m… I’m sorry,” she said, smearing it with her fingertips and making an even worse mess. “I’m…”

“It’s alright,” he replied, trying to change the subject and looking away from her reddened cheek.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled once more.

He ignored her. “Have you brought some samples of your writing, Miss Potter?” he asked her, stretching a hand towards her.

She snapped the mirror closed and placed it in her bag, hurrying to grab the pile of parchment and placing it in his hand. “Yes, of course,” she replied. “They’re… they’re the same samples that I sent in last week, through my mother.”

“I didn’t read them,” replied Mr Quills calmly. “You know how many I get every day?”

“Lots?” murmured Lily unsurely.

“Double that,” he replied, skimming through the first sample and then turning the page before turning another one. As his eyes caressed the words, he nodded, pursed his lips, narrowed his eyes, and snorted slightly, but never proffered a word or offered a comment to the quality of her writing.

Lily sat there, her fingers tormenting the bag in her lap, her sandals tapping the floor impatiently, her teeth probably smearing her lipstick all over. She raised her eyes to Mr Quills’ face every time he turned another page, expecting him to finally look up at her and let her know his final verdict.

It didn’t happen for a good half an hour, though, and Lily felt her armpits starting to sweat dangerously. She was glad she was wearing a sleeveless dress; less glad she hadn’t been able to find Hugo’s deodorant that morning.

He finally placed the pile of samples on the table and looked at her. “Not too terrible,” he let her know magnanimously. “I’ve seen way worse.”

Lily opened her mouth. “Th-thank you,” she replied unsurely.

He nodded in reply. “You’re hired, Miss Potter,” he announced calmly. “You’ll start tomorrow morning at nine, be punctual.”

Lily blinked at him. She had expected a lengthy and extenuating interview, where she was asked about her dreams, and her work ethics, and where she probably started crying because of the tension, at some point. And where she surely used the but-I’m-Harry-Potter’s-daughter card – although for once she should have used the but-I’m-Ginny-Potter’s-daughter card instead. But her interview had almost been non-existent, as if Mr Quills had wanted to hire her straight away, as if he had lied to her and had actually read her articles, and as if they were actually good. Properly good.

In the end, she managed to smile, finally comprehending that she had a job. Two weeks after finishing Hogwarts, two weeks after her N.E.W.T.s, she already had a job! She felt her new life was going to rock.

“Thank you, Mr Quills!” she exclaimed, her smile becoming a grin as she jumped up from the chair to shake his hand, even when he wasn’t stretching one towards her. “I’ll be super punctual, I swear,” she assured him, still grinning. “I swear I’m so good, I work really, really hard and—”

“Good,” he cut her off. “And you’re a woman. A young woman, who is certainly in touch with many youngsters and has problems that range from menstrual cramps to unwanted pregnancies.”

She nodded eagerly. “And I know everything about Quidditch! Honestly, ask me anything about the League. I just know everything.” Suddenly, she stopped and blinked at him, her smile still on her face, though. “I’m sorry what?”

“It’s good to hear that you have a hobby,” he said nonchalantly. “But Quidditch won’t take you far in this job.”

She blinked again, her smile now faltering slightly. “But… as Quidditch correspondent… shouldn’t I… shouldn’t I know about Quidditch?” she asked unsurely.

“Quidditch correspondent?” he asked back, eyes wide, before bursting into laughter. “Who said anything about you being our Quidditch correspondent?”

Lily’s heart sunk suddenly. “I… I thought… well, my mum said you were looking for a new junior Quidditch correspondent.”

“Yes, we are,” he replied, “but we surely can’t assign the position to a wee witch who just came out of Hogwarts two weeks ago. You understand, right?”

Lily’s shoulders hunched slightly. “I… I guess,” she replied, “but what—”

“But don’t you worry, Miss Potter,” he said cheerfully, reaching for a copy of the paper and starting to turn the pages. “You’ll have a position of great responsibility. A job that most witches would kill for.”

She furrowed her brow in concentration. There was nothing she would kill for except for the Quidditch correspondent position. But what would other witches want?

“You’re going to cover a maternity leave,” he went on. “Ah, here we go!” He opened the paper wide and turned it before pushing it in front of her. He tapped the picture of a blonde witch with a knowing smile and a lot of makeup. “You, Miss Potter, will take care of our beloved _Ask Lavender_ column,” he announced in a way more enthusiastically tone of voice than Lily thought that announcement required.

She looked at the page in front of her, eyes wide and mouth equally wide. “Lavender Brown’s Agony Aunt Column?” she asked horrified.

“The one and only!”

Stunned to silence by the news, she skimmed through the first letter. _inpain10_ just got her period for the first time, was it normal that she hurt that much right _there_? Lavender thought that yes, it was normal, all girls were different, and if it was her first period, probably the pain was more intense anyway, but she should go and see a Healer and talk to her mother too.

Lily felt a shiver running down her back. She imagined herself giving pieces of advice to people. Having to read about first crushes and teenager’s concerns and… unplanned pregnancies? She had no clue how to answer to those questions, she had no idea what to say to people who were in pain or had a broken heart or needed a comforting word.

She looked up at Mr Quills, but he was already scribbling something on a piece of paper and ignoring her completely.

She lowered her eyes again. She should refuse. That was not the job she wanted, it was not the job she had thought she was applying for in the first place. It was a joke of a job, anyway, otherwise he would have never offered it to her. She pressed her lips in a thin line. Of course, Mr Quills was right, she had no experience whatsoever; she would never land the job of Quidditch correspondent just because her mother did that too. It had been stupid and arrogant of her to think that she would just because her last name was Potter.

Suddenly, she remembered the night before, her House Warming Party. Albus had been there and he had been drunk when he commented about the fact that she and Hugo had had no shame into moving into the flat that their father and Uncle Ron still owned in Diagon Alley from their days as Aurors, without having to pay a Knut for rent. “I’m sure you’ll get the job tomorrow, all you have to do is telling them that you’re Ginny Potter’s daughter,” he laughed.

She had tried to hex him, but Hugo had stood between them and had grabbed her wand before she could do any damage. Then he had told her that good hostesses don’t hex their guests and he had winked and stood next to her for the whole evening, distracting Lily with exciting talks about their bright future.

She pressed her lips even more until she felt like the lipstick solidifying between them. She cleared her throat. “Mr Quills?”

“Yes?” he replied, still scribbling.

“What happens after Lavender Brown’s maternity leave is over?” she asked.

He looked at her and pursed his lips. “Well, Miss Potter, if you’ve distinguished yourself enough in your job,” he said calmly, “we can try and see if you’ve a knack for sports journalism.” He raised a hand as she started to smile. “We’ll start with some Scottish Rugby,” he went on, “a few games, see if you can follow everything that happens during a match, if you recognise the highlights of a game…”

“And then?” she asked, hope bubbling up in her voice.

“Then, if you’re good we can move you to the Quidditch page,” he said. “But we need to see if you fit the requirements for the position first.”

She felt encouraged by the news. “I understand,” she replied seriously. “Of course, I understand. I promise I won’t disappoint you.”

“Good,” he exclaimed. “That’s what I like to hear.” He glanced at his watch. “Now, hurry up, Mrs Finnigan’s leave starts in about ten minutes, and she’s never late when she has to leave the office.”

“Who?”

“Lavender,” said Mr Quills, standing up and ushering Lily towards the door. “Last door to the right.” He opened the door on the corridor where her mother was sitting, revising her newest article about the latest match. “And don’t forget to come in tomorrow to sign your contract. 500 a month.”

“500 what?” asked Lily, but the door had already closed at her back and her mother had already crushed her in a tight embrace.

“You got the job!” she almost cried in her ear. “You got the job! I’m so proud of you, Lily!”

***

Lily had wriggled free from her mother with great difficulty, and only after that, she had managed to almost snap at her that she hadn’t been made Quidditch correspondent, but Agony Aunt.

Her mother had been stunned into silence after that and Lily had finally managed to stalk away and find Lavender Brown’s office. She had knocked on the door and an excited voice had told her to come in.

“Oh, I’m going to miss you too…” Lavender’s voice trailed away, before she blinked at Lily. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “You’re Ginny’s daughter!”

Lily smiled weakly at her. “Hello, Mrs Finnigan,” she said as she walked in.

“You want an autograph?” the woman asked brightly, brushing her voluminous curls from her eyes and battling her long eyelashes. “Is that why you’re here?”

Lily considered lying, just because the woman seemed so eager to sign just about anything, but she couldn’t bring herself. “Hum… actually, I’m here to cover your maternity leave,” she said, trying to sound much happier than she actually felt. “Mr Quills told me to come and see you, to see if you could spare me a couple of minutes to explain the job to me.”

“Oh,” was all the reply that Lavender gave her. She brought a hand to her gigantic belly, wrapped in a tight top that left very little to the imagination; her swollen wrists were constricted under the tight hoops of golden bracelets and made her arms look like sausages. Lavender looked at her, her face darkening slightly, as if she hadn’t expected to be substituted that quickly by the editor. Or to be substituted at all.

Lily felt that a little flattery was needed there.

“I’m so honoured to try to take care of your column for you,” she started, trying to sound genuinely enthusiastic. “You’re such a great inspiration to my cousins and me. We’ve spent many a day reading your replies to the letters you get.” Laughing at those replies usually, but she didn’t feel the urge to specify. “I’m just scared I won’t be able to do as good a job as you do, and I really hope I won’t make a mess.” She caught the voice in her throat for good measure and Lavender’s scowl changed into a swoon and then into a smile.

“Oh no, darling!” She walked to her as quickly as she could and grabbed Lily’s hand into hers. “I’m sure you’ll do a great job,” she reassured her. “I’ll tell you everything you need to know and you’ll be wonderful. Wonderful!” She pushed her into a chair and went to sit with great difficulty into her own armchair. “You don’t worry,” she assured her. “It’s much easier than what you’d expect!”

Lily willed her eyebrows to stay down. She didn’t expect the job to be difficult at all, she expected it to be dull and annoying most of the time. “Thank you,” she said sweetly.

Lavender smiled at her. “Oh darling,” she chirped. “It’s my pleasure!” She grabbed a pink basket from under her desk; inside there were two letters that had been already opened. “This is a week’s job,” she announced.

“But… but that’s like… two letters,” Lily pointed out. She was sure that every day there were at least five or six letters on Lavender’s page.

“I know,” sighed Lavender. “I don’t get that much correspondence anymore.” She winked at Lily and added, “But we find our ways to add a bit of spice to the column.”

“How?” asked Lily stupidly.

“We just add a couple of homemade letters here and there,” she replied nonchalantly, “just to fill in the page.” She winked again. “You know, _flowerygirl_ wasn’t really pregnant. She actually didn’t exist at all…”  

“Oh,” was all Lily could comment to that.

“But!” thundered Lavender suddenly. “When a letter is real, you have to show great care and respect for the person who has requested your attention.”

Lily nodded. “Sure,” she replied. “Is there anything I need now on how to reply?”

Lavender looked at her as if she hadn’t expected that question. But Lily couldn’t decide if it was because she didn’t know what to reply or because she was surprised that Lily was so unexperienced.

“Well,” she started unsurely, “well, well… you… you have to write something that is right. Most of these people consider me a great expert in most things, you have to be honest and do your research. Yes, and you should ask for suggestions rather than get it wrong. I’m a celebrity, you know, I always get everything right. _Always_. I’d hate for you to be careless and maybe write something that might cause some problems. You know? My job is important, we help people…”

Lily nodded again, feeling slightly unsure. “Honest and right and do my research,” she repeated. “Do you go to the library or…”

Lavender laughed at her. “Oh dear, no! You do your research in the real world!” she exclaimed. “You go out there, talk to people, and ask them things. Especially Healers. They know a lot. You go there and ask them if it’s normal that a man’s penis is covered in bubbles as he claims it to be and they’ll tell you that…” She looked at Lily, expecting her to finish the sentence for her.

“That it’s not,” she finished, “and that whoever’s asking should stay the hell away from him.”

“Yes,” replied Lavender quietly, “not with those words, but you get the gist. Always be polite, gentle, and comprehensive. If you have to tell to someone that you suspect that they are pregnant, ease them into the subject, don’t tell them that straight away, convince them to see a Healer, tell them that there’s a possibility that they might not be pregnant, and so on. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I guess,” replied Lily. “I shouldn’t shock them.”

“Exactly! You’re their friend, their confident, their sister, mother, grandmother, daughter, cousin, wife, and girlfriend, as well as their brother, father, husband, and son. You’re everything to them, be there for them, make them feel loved and cherished and understood. Maybe you’re the only person they’re going to talk to about their problems, maybe not even their mothers or their husbands know.”

Lily blinked at the river of words that seemed to crash over her like a wave out of control. She hadn’t imagined that Lavender’s job was _that_ complicated. She thought she would be sitting at a desk writing a _take a potion_ , in response to menstrual cramps, or _have a pregnancy test_ to reply to a little girl who had missed her period for the past two months. She hadn’t expected… well… _that_!

“Is everything clear?” asked Lavender, already standing up. “Because I have a maternity leave to start, and a nail appointment at 11.”

Lily stood up too. “I… I guess,” she replied, still a bit upset about the amount of actual work she had to do to get those answers right. She stood up too and let Lavender push her towards the door. “Oh, will I work in here?”

Lavender shrugged a shoulder. “To be honest, I work at home most of the time, I just come in to pick up the post, and bring in the replies in the evening,” she said, pushing the two letters into her hands. “Work from your couch, it’s much more comfortable.” She rubbed her hands on her belly before enveloping Lily in a hug as an afterthought. “You’ll do great,” she assured her, kissing her twice, “absolutely great!” And with that she pushed her out and closed the door on her nose.

***

“Why Aunt Hermione, Mum?” whined Lily from behind the tall menu. “I don’t want to have to tell her about my new job.”

Her mother sighed and Lily could almost hear her as she rolled her eyes. “We’ve arranged this lunch date days ago,” she reminded her patiently, “and your new job has nothing wrong. You just got out of Hogwarts and are already working for the Daily Prophet; I don’t think many of your mates can say the same about them. I bet they’re all still looking for a job.”

Now it was Lily’s time to roll her eyes. “Except Hugo, who is already working for Puddlemere,” she reminded her sourly.

“Hey,” said her mother, placing a hand on the top of Lily’s menu to make her lower it to the table. “First of all, Hugo is not working for Puddlemere, he’s doing their summer camp and won’t know if he’s made it to the Reserve Team until September,” she reminded her, “secondly, it’s not his fault if he’s a great player. Don’t start being a prat to him just because he might become a famous Quidditch star while you have to answer letters about crushes and other silly poppycock.”

“Mum! You said my job had nothing wrong!”

Her mother had the decency to blush slightly. “Anyway,” she added, before stopping and waving over Lily’s shoulder. “Aunt Hermione’s coming.”

“Don’t tell her I got that job,” pleaded Lily. “Tell her anything else. That I’m the coffee person, the one who brings in the parchment when it’s finished, the—hey, Aunt Hermione!”

Aunt Hermione had a bright smile on her face as she enveloped Lily in her arms. “Aww, how’s my baby?” she asked sweetly. “Are you the new Quidditch correspondent already?”

Lily took a deep breath. “Not yet,” she replied. “They said in a few months, if they think I’m a good enough writer.”

Aunt Hermione let her go and sat on the chair between Lily and her mother. “Oh,” she said, kissing Lily’s mother on her cheek, “but they hired you, didn’t they?”

“She’s the coffee girl,” said her mother, smiling at Lily, “and the one who’ll bring in the parchment when it’s finished. And other things, I guess, but I didn’t quite catch them.”

Lily glared at her, but her mother just raised her glass to sip the wine with a smile on her lips.

“Oh, but that’s unfair,” said Aunt Hermione, looking at Lily as if she was a stray puppy. “How are they going to know how you write if they don’t let you write?”

That was such a good question, Lily’s lips parted in surprise at that. She hadn’t thought about it.

“She’ll fit some writing here and there,” her mother came to her rescue, “and we’ll slip some of her articles to Mr Quills.”

“Yeah,” babbled Lily, “yeah.”

Aunt Hermione smiled warmly at her. “I’m so happy to hear that you’ve already found a job, Lily.” She squeezed her hand into hers. “And how’s life in the flat? God, you’re living alone already, it felt like only yesterday that you and Hugo were born.”

Lily silently prayed that the stroll down memory lane was over before it had even started. Those could go on forever. “It’s great,” replied Lily, “so great. Honestly, no Albus and James to threaten to come into the bathroom while I’m in the shower because I’m taking a bit more than two hours, no Kreacher waking me up at some ungodly hours, nobody to tell me to tidy up my room.”

“But nobody to make you breakfast either,” pointed out Aunt Hermione with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll miss your parents before the week is over.”

“Oh no,” said her mother. “Apparently Hugo is spoiling her already. He laid out breakfast for her this morning and left her a good luck note.”

Aunt Hermione’s face coloured with pride. “I’m so glad you two get along,” she grinned. “How’s Hugo? Is he eating properly? Brushing his teeth?”

“Brushing his teeth!” exclaimed Lily, patting her forehead. “Thank you for reminding me that I need to go and buy him a new toothbrush.”

“What? What happened to his old one? I got it last week,” asked Aunt Hermione confused.

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “I used it this morning, couldn’t find mine,” she said nonchalantly. “Maybe he won’t mind though. I mean, it’s not like I have some disease.”

“Merlin’s beard, Lily,” muttered her mother, face colouring in shame. “Of course he’ll mind. You don’t just go and use other people’s toothbrushes.” She turned towards Aunt Hermione and added, “Hold that thought about the two of them getting along.”

“Hey!” protested Lily. “We do get along. Actually, he adores me. I’m his favourite cousin, by far.”

“Did he actually say that?” asked her mother with a sigh.

“Yes,” replied Lily triumphantly, “last night at the party. He was a bit drunk, but he was sincere. Said I was the prettiest and most intelligent too.”

Her mother raised her menu again. “Then he was definitely drunk,” she chuckled.

Lily wanted to reply that he was not _that_ drunk, but the two women had already started talking about lunch and what they were going to get and Lily suddenly noticed that she was very hungry too.

***

Lily plopped on the couch, wearing white linen shorts and a white top, hair tied high in a messy bun, and a gigantic cup of ice tea floating around her head. She opened the first letter and took a deep breath.

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I have a gigantic problem and I really hope you can help me._
> 
> _As you might have noticed, it’s summer! Yay, right? WRONG! I have such gigantic thighs and an arse the size of caldron, and I’ve already been invited to three beach parties. I really don’t want to go, but all of my friends insist. I need a good bunch of excuses for that. What do I tell them? I really, really don’t want everybody to laugh at me!_
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Bigbottom99_

***

Lily was vaguely aware of a delicious smell of fried bacon when she woke up. Her eyelids fluttered open and her nose twitched appreciatively as she stretched her arms over her head.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring at a plate filled with bacon and scrambled eggs right under her nose. She started before raising her eyes on a handsome face that was looking down at her and grinning.

“I made dinner,” said Hugo as he sat on the other side of the couch.

She scooted back, moving her feet out of the way and giving him some room as she grabbed the delicious-looking plate.

“Here,” he added, handing her a fork and a knife, the grin still there on his face.

Lily looked at him as if she couldn’t understand what was happening. Hugo had made her dinner. She couldn’t remember having had that clause in their flat-sharing contract. Not that they had one, but… Had he agreed to take care of her? To spoil her? She had thought they would have spent their meals together sitting one next to the other and eating crisps out of the same packet, or take away from the Leaky Cauldron.

“It’s not poisoned, I swear,” he said, as he started to cut the bacon.

Lily blinked. “Wait a second,” she finally said. “First of all, hi.”

He laughed happily. “Hi to you too, Lily, had a good day?”

She raised a hand to stop him. “Second, what time is it? When did you come back?” She paused and added, “And have you already brushed your teeth?”

He furrowed his brow, but still grinned. “It’s almost eight in the evening; I came back a couple of hours ago. You were sleeping, so I had a shower and yes, I brushed my teeth.”

She groaned.

“And I went to do some shopping because our pantry was empty and you looked like you were knackered and needed a good meal to refresh you,” he added brightly. “Plus, shouldn’t we celebrate something?” He eyed her and waited for the news, apparently.

“But you just spent the whole day playing Quidditch,” she pointed out. “Aren’t you… aren’t you knackered, too?”

“Bit sore, to be honest,” he confessed, raising an arm and running his hand over his side, “but I had just enough energy to do the shopping and cook for us.”

“Us?” she asked confused. “So like, next time I’ll do the shopping, okay?” She prayed she would remember that.

“That’s alright, Lily,” he said gently. “I wanted to treat you, your first day at work…” He paused and became serious all of a sudden. “You… you had your first day at work, right?”

She looked at the plate and nodded.

“But that’s great!” he exclaimed cheerfully. “If I get picked for the Reserve Team I’ll tell the Prophet that I only want _you_ to interview me!”

She tried to smile, but that was probably not what happened to her face because he whispered a, “Lily,” that sounded quite very concerned.

“I have to confess two things,” she sighed seriously, finally looking up at him. “First, I used your toothbrush this morning because I couldn’t find mine. And your shower gel, and your towel which is still probably in a wet heap in my room.”

He seemed ready to say something, but she stopped him again.

“Second, I’m not the new junior Quidditch correspondent,” she sighed. “I was given Lavender Brown’s Agony Aunt Column while she’s away pushing her baby out of her gigantic belly, and I don’t know anything about what to reply to people or how to help with menstrual cramps and unwanted pregnancies and big arses. And I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, I asked my mum to swear to keep the secret even from my dad, and especially from Al and James, and I lied to your mother too. It just feels like something embarrassing and I fell asleep right after I read the first letter and I only have two and I think I’ll have to write something tomorrow and I don’t even know what or how and I am the least polite and sympathetic person on earth and I’m rambling now, aren’t I?” She stopped and looked anxiously at Hugo. Why had she just confessed her secret to him? She wasn’t sure but she had felt that it would have taken her a great effort to lie to the person she was living with every day of her life.

“Can I talk?” he asked gently.

She nodded slowly.

“First of all,” he started, “thank you for telling me about the toothbrush.”

“I bought you a new one,” she hurried to say, “but it’s still in my bag, I forgot to take it out.” She looked sheepishly at him. “I even tied a little bow on it.”

He smiled as if she was a particularly cute child. “Second,” he went on, “you are a great listener, and you give wonderful pieces of advice that work big time, I’m sure you’ll be fantastic at that job.”

She looked at him, trying to understand if he was lying to make her feel good. His smile looked genuine though, and she couldn’t help smiling back, blushing slightly for the compliments. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“And,” he added cheerfully, “you can pick my brain any time you need help with a letter.”

She shook her head, waving a hand in front of her face to dismiss that. “I could never,” she muttered.

“Oh,” mumbled Hugo, “right, sorry. I didn’t think that there must be some sort of privacy clause to what you do and that you can’t show the letters to anyone probably.”

Lily’s lips parted in surprise. “What? No, no, I didn’t mean that. I mean the letters will be published anyway, it’s not like anybody won’t be able to see them. I mean… there’s no privacy clause or anything, I just… I don’t want to ask for your help, Hugo.”

He raised a hand as if to say that he understood and that she didn’t have to continue. “I get it, your first job, you want to do it by yourself,” he said seriously. “I’ll be your moral support, then.”

“No!” she almost snapped. “No. You don’t understand! Let me talk, okay?” He nodded softly and she continued, “You are out all day, playing Quidditch and come back late and… and make dinner and do the shopping and… and you’re offering to help me with the letters? Like, no! I don’t want to take advantage of you.” She sighed. “I just know me, okay? If we start like this, I will just expect you to spoil me more and more every day, and I don’t want that.”

He smiled at her, and only now Lily could see how red his face was in contrast with his white teeth. She imagined him developing a nice tan by the end of the summer, and that that would cause all girls falling for him, while she would become a pale, fat worm on that couch, answering to stupid letters and maybe losing her eyesight in the upcoming months.

He stretched his big hand and brushed his fingers over one of her feet. “Maybe I like to spoil you,” he whispered gently. “And honestly, you said it yourself; I’ll be out all day playing Quidditch, I won’t be able to see you at all, at least we can chat and spend some time together when I help you out with the letters.”

She glanced at him, and smiled, involuntarily moving her foot against his hand until his digits brushed against her ankle.

“And you can show your gratitude with a massage when I’m particularly sore,” he chuckled.

She opened her mouth wide. “Fat chance, Hugo!” she laughed.

“Hey, I tried.” He winked at her.

“Oh, alright, I’ll let you help me with the letters,” she finally agreed, sighing as if he had just exasperated her with his requests. “But only after we’ve had a good ten-minute conversation about your day.” She withdrew her foot and sat up straight as she finally dug into the lukewarm bacon. It was still delicious. “So,” she started, her mouth full, “how was your day?”

He smiled at her as he brought a piece of bacon to his mouth, too. He swallowed before replying, though. “Very good, thank you,” he replied seriously. “There are other twenty three aspiring players, five of whom want to be Beaters too.”

“But you’re the best one, and they’ll be stupid not to choose you,” she said warmly.

He chuckled at her enthusiasm and she wondered if he thought it was faked, it wasn’t. He had been her Quidditch Captain for three years back at Hogwarts and she knew how good he was. “You’re sweet,” he said, “but they’re all very good. There’s John McLaggen from back at school, too. He wants to try out for Keeper, though.”

“But he doesn’t know Oliver Wood like your uncle does,” she giggled.

Hugo’s face darkened as he lowered his eyes to his plate. “I don’t want to use that excuse to get a spot on the Reserve Team,” he muttered, “and I don’t even think he knows I’m your father’s nephew.”

Lily felt childish all of a sudden. She was just teasing him, but she had really caressed the idea of using her parents to secure her a job at the Prophet that morning, while Hugo wanted to do things by himself. When had he grown up to be a responsible, caring, wonderful human being? She hadn’t even noticed.

“I was joking,” she hurried to apologise.

He gave her a tired smile. “I know, I’m sorry, it’s just that…” His voice trailed again and he shook his head. “Never mind. Let’s talk about your letters instead,” he continued cheerfully. “What’s the first one all about?”

She knew he had changed the subject on purpose and she was torn between insisting and letting it go. She decided that they would get back to that subject later; she looked for the letter that had fallen to the floor and unfolded it before passing it to Hugo. “A girl doesn’t want to go to the beach because she’s ashamed of how big her arse is,” she sighed, “and she asked me—well, Lavender—about three excuses to use for three different parties she’s been invited to.” Lily grabbed the glass that was still floating in mid-air and sighed. “And I have no clue what to tell her.”

Hugo nodded at her every word, and then proceeded to read the letter as well. Lily stared at him staring at the words. He looked so focused, as if he hadn’t just spent the whole day playing Quidditch at a professional level and then he took care of her like a big brother. Lily snorted; Al and James had never taken care of her like that at all.

“I see,” he finally said, looking up at her.

“Impossible right?” she sighed. “I was caressing the idea of telling her to go get three different sweets from Uncle George’s shop; at least she’ll have three different and very believable excuses.” She grinned and added, “And I could ask a percentage to Uncle George…”

Hugo smiled almost awkwardly, he opened his mouth and then closed it again, as if trying to understand what would be a good way to tell her that he didn’t quite agree.

“I’m talking rubbish,” muttered Lily, coming to his rescue.

He smiled again. “I think… Well, I think that the problem is not what excuses to provide to this girl in order for her to avoid a party,” he explained gently. “I think the problem is that she is not happy in her body. Probably you should help her with that before you give her an excuse that will make her feel as if you agree with her judgement, which for what we know might all be in her head.”

Lily blinked, surprised by his answer. She hadn’t thought about that. “So,” she started softly, “like… you mean I should tell her to accept herself?”

Hugo shrugged a shoulder. “Yes. And then, I think you should give her pieces of advice about some kind of exercise routines that she can do to maybe shape up her body, and perhaps you could research a diet to lose extra weight right there? And then conclude with some fashion advice and how much beach parties are fun and that she should not forego them just because her bottom is a bit fleshier than normal, that some girls would kill for big butts and some guys love to squeeze them at night…”

Lily blinked again, trying to understand how he could come up with such a brilliant answer in such a little time. She was completely and utterly stunned, she felt like she couldn’t move a muscle while she sat there in awe.

He bit his bottom lip. “But that’s just my idea,” he said, probably worried by her silence. “I mean, you can tell her to go and get sweets, I mean…”

Lily placed her plate on the floor and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly while she gave him just the time to move his own empty plate away. “I love you so much, you freaking genius!” she laughed. “That’s brilliant! God! What would I do without you?”

He stiffened slightly under her arms, but then seemed to melt against her, and wrapped an arm on her shoulders to squeeze her back, apparently at a loss for words.

Lily pushed back and grabbed parchment and quills. “I’m going to write that down, and tomorrow I will work on a nice and articulated answer,” she said as she scribbled down notes. “You’re a genius,” she muttered, “a freaking genius.”

She glanced up at him and smiled, and he seemed to become even redder as he smiled back at her.

He Summoned her plate into his hands and tried to stand up, but Lily dug her heels into his thighs.

“I’ll do the washing up,” she announced in what she hoped was a firm tone of voice. “You stay right there, and…” She grinned at him as she exchanged the plates in his hands for the second letter. “Maybe have a look at that?”

She could feel him following her with his eyes as she stood up and went to the tiny corner that was their kitchen.

The second letter was from a young woman who had burnt her grandmother’s handwritten cookbook and needed to replace a good number of recipes before said grandmother could notice. Hugo suggested asking Grandma Molly for help with that.

That night, Lily went to bed with a very good feeling about her new job and her new life.


	2. Chapter 2

*******

“500 a month?”

“Yes,” said Mr Quills calmly, “500. That’s final, if you’re not happy with that, I suggest you find yourself a new job before you’ve even started this one.”

Lily’s eyes widened. “No, no, no!” she hurried to reply. “I’m more than happy, more than happy. I just didn’t understand you when you said it yesterday. Yep, more than happy with that.”

Mr Quills seemed to relax. “Good,” he replied. “I’m sure you’ll go far in here, Miss Potter. Now, I only need a little signature here and here and here.” He quickly turned the pages of the massive stack of parchment that was her contract. “You’ll be able to study your copy at home.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t I study it _before_ I sign it?”

He waved a hand. “It’s basically, the standard contract,” he replied dismissively. “Your mother has the same one, ask her if you’d like, I can wait exactly eight minutes for you.”

“It’s fine,” she muttered, picking up a quill and starting to sign the contract. “So… hum… Lavender said that I can work from home, but if you’d rather have me staying here and work here…”

Mr Quills closed the contract and placed it in a drawer. “Oh Merlin,” he sighed. “Do whatever you have to do to fill that page. I honestly couldn’t care less about it. No offence, dear.”

“None taken… I guess,” she replied unsurely. “So can I just come in here and pick up the letters in the morning and then bring them in in the evening?”

“You can bring them in the next day,” he assured her. “As long as the page is always covered for. You can even come in once a week and dump a pile of letters on Mike’s desk, I don’t think there’s an order for them, is there? I mean, as long as they don’t cut off anything when they print them, all’s good, right?”

Lily nodded anxiously. “Who’s Mike?” she asked.

“Our editor, the one who decides how to print out the Prophet. His desk is in the printing room, you just copy the letter that you get on a piece of paper and the reply under it, so that he knows what goes first, okay?”

She nodded.

“Just always make sure that you have the page covered,” he repeated, “that’s a must.”

“Okay,” she replied. “Enough letters to cover that page every day. Yep, right, no problem.”

“Great,” said Mr Quills, “absolutely great. I’m sure you’ll do just great, Miss Potter.”

Lily smiled hopefully at him. “And then I can move on to the sports section.”

Mr Quills’ face darkened slightly. “Yes,” he replied, his tone slightly colder, “in time.” He stood up. “Now, off you go, Miss Potter, off to do whatever it is that you have to do to rock that column.” He smiled as he ushered her to the door, as if he was afraid she would come back to bother him if he didn’t secure the door at her back. “Isn’t that what you youngsters say? Rock something?” he laughed and didn’t wait for her answer before he closed the door at her back, leaving Lily there in the corridor alone.

She sighed and pushed the thick contract into her bag, making a mental note to read it later.

She considered what to do now. It was only nine in the morning, she already knew what to write in reply to both letters that she had at home, and she should probably check Lavender’s basket to see if there was any new correspondence waiting for her.

There was one more letter, so she imagined that she would have to invent something to fill the page by the end of the week, unless there were more letters coming in soon. Lavender had already covered the upcoming three or four days, though, so she didn’t have to worry right at that moment.

She decided to go and say hi to her mother, after all if Ginny Potter was told that Lily had been there and not even swung by to let her know how it was going – even though not much was going anyway – she would pout for two weeks. Which wasn’t that bad now that Lily wasn’t living at Grimmauld Place anymore, but still, it wasn’t something nice to do to her mum.

She walked to her mother’s office and knocked gently. “Come in,” came the reply from the other side of the door. Lily did as she was told, and was rewarded by a bright smile and an excited, “Hello, my darling!”

Her mother’s office was a big, bright room with pictures of their family on the walls, framed Quidditch articles, and memorabilia from her days in the Harpies. That was the kind of office that Lily aspired to have at the Daily Prophet, not Lavender’s messy cubicle.

Lily smiled at her as she went to kiss and hug her. “Hi, Mum.”

“I keep forgetting that you work here too now, Lily,” she said brightly. “I still can’t believe it. I’m so proud of you.” She looked at her and suddenly her face became slightly more severe. “Your father would like to see you too, you know,” she pointed out. “He was rather disappointed that you just gave him a Floo Call to tell him about your new job.”

Lily sighed. “He’s right of course,” she replied meekly. “I’ll swing by his office later today.”

Her mother’s face brightened up once more. “He’ll be ecstatic,” she beamed. “So, have you signed the contract? Do you know what to write already? Do you need any help? Is there anything that your Mummy can help you with? Someone needs a good way to smooth their wrinkles?”

Lily wrinkled her nose. “Not yet,” she assured her, “and so far I’m good, thank you. Hugo helped me big time last night.”

“Did he?” asked her mother sweetly. “What time did he come back from his trainings?”

“Around six, he said,” she replied. “I’m not sure, I was sleeping. And he went to do the shopping and made dinner too, and then offered to help me with the letters.” Lily smiled. “And bloody hell, Mum! He’s good! He’s like this mix of supreme intelligence like Aunt Hermione and great strategic skills like Uncle Ron, and he just knew what to reply to the two desperate people like straight away.”

Her mother smiled. “Lovely,” she replied. “But how was Hugo’s day? Did he have fun? I remember when I attended the Harpies summer camp.”

“Was it fun?”

“It was hard,” she said seriously. “It was fun, too, but I was glad to go home and have Kreacher cooking for me.” She eyed Lily and added, “I certainly didn’t have any strength left to do the shopping or cooking for two.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Lily. “I told that to Hugo! That he was out of his mind that he should rest and that he shouldn’t spoil me.”

Her mother smiled. “Well done,” she agreed. “And what did he say?”

Lily grinned. “That he likes to spoil me,” she giggled before looking impishly at her mother. “I think asking Hugo to be my flatmate was the best idea I’ve ever had.”

“I thought _he_ asked you,” pointed out her mother.

Lily waved a hand in front of her face. “Details,” she huffed. “Anyway, he wasn’t even angry about the toothbrush.”

Her mother shook her head. “I’ll have to talk to him,” she sighed. “Tell him to use some tough love on you if you become too insufferable.”

“Muuum! I’m not a child,” she protested. “And it’s not my fault if everybody thinks I’m adorable.” She fluttered her eyelashes and pushed her hair over one shoulder. “I’m the sweetest, most beautiful, little princess, right?”

***

“How’s my princess doing on her first day of work?”

Lily wanted to reply that she was doing great, but her father was squeezing her so tight to his chest that she could barely breathe, let alone talk.

“My baby,” he sighed, leaning his head on top of hers. “I miss you so much, Lily. Grimmauld Place is definitely not the same without you.”

She pushed her hands on her father’s chest and gasped a little and only then he let her go, laughing at how red and dishevelled she looked.

“Oh, sorry my dear,” he chuckled, kissing her head. “I just miss you so much.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I moved out three days ago, Daddy,” she sighed. “I mean… honestly, you’re embarrassing me.” She glanced around herself and noticed a small group of Aurors looking at them, luckily they weren’t laughing. One of them smiled to Lily, though.

“Let’s go to my office,” said her father, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “I can’t wait to hear everything about your new job. Eighteen and with a job already, my baby!” He raised his voice towards the end of the sentence, pointing not so subtly to her head with a finger, and nodding towards her at every person they walked past.

Lily wanted to dig a hole and lie in there for the rest of her life. Her cheeks were already on fire and she just hoped not to meet Al or James, either one would have pointed at her and laughed in front of everybody.

“Look at you,” continued her father as the door of his office closed at their backs. “You look taller, did you grow?” He went to sit at his desk and grinned.

“Daaad!” she sighed, sitting across from him. “You’re worse than Mum.”

He smiled almost dumbly at her before becoming serious all of a sudden. “And how’s Hugo behaving? Is he being a gentleman? Or shall I come and have a talk with him?”

Lily’s rolled her eyes. “Dad, please,” she murmured. “He’s being awesome. He’s cooking me dinner and helping me out with my job and he’s just ten times better than Al and James put together.” She smiled and added, “Oh yes, I’d like to exchange my brothers for my cousin, thank you very much. Two at the price of one.”

Her father nodded slowly. “I’m not quite sure Aunt Hermione will be too happy to hear that,” he chuckled before winking. “But I’m in, don’t tell your mother I said that, but I’m definitely in.”

She couldn’t help giggling.

“You’re coming to the Burrow on Sunday, aren’t you?” asked her father suddenly serious. "Grandma Molly wasn’t too happy that you weren’t there the other day.”

“I was getting ready for the party, Dad,” she tried to justify herself even when she knew that it was a very poor excuse indeed. “And it’s not like I wasn’t there the week before—well, okay, I was still in France last week, but the week before that, then.” She smiled suddenly and added, “And I’m going to see Grandma right this afternoon anyway. Need help with a project.”

He furrowed his brow. “What project? Actually, what is it exactly that you do at the Prophet? I didn’t really understand what your mother was saying last night.”

Lily shrugged a shoulder and glanced at the clock in her father’s office. “Oh you know,” she said, standing up and smiling awkwardly, “this and that. Actually, I should be back at the newsroom by now, I just had a moment of calm and thought about coming to say hi, but you know, I’ve got… coffees to make and… quills to bring to my fellow journalists and stuff to do… you know…”

He stared at her as she walked backwards towards the door and placed a hand on the handle, giggling nervously and smiling at him. “So, yep, I’ll see you at the Burrow on Sunday, does that sound right? And maybe one day when I’ve finished to unpack, you and Mum can come over with Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione for dinner… Hugo cooks beautifully… Have to go now, Dad, but don’t be a stranger, okay?”

She didn’t wait for him to reply, slid out of the door, and leant against the wall. “Thank you, Mum,” she muttered in a growl before taking a deep breath and starting to make her way towards the Atrium. She stopped in front of a door a few feet before the lifts and pondered whether she wanted to say hi to Albus or not. Maybe he wasn’t even there, maybe he was out doing those Auror-ish things that Aurors did. James surely was.

She pushed the door that led to her brother’s office ajar and held her breath.

“…and she said no?” was asking Albus.

“She said she has to think about it, but I told her that I was going to do it anyway,” replied Scorpius Malfoy with his usual cocky tone of voice.

Albus snorted. “Oh yeah? What are you going to do, tie her up?”

Scorpius huffed, “If I have to.”

Albus laughed and so did Scorpius, and Lily decided that she really didn’t want to interrupt the two of them as they blabbed about whatever they were babbling about – whatever it was, she was sure that they would have just told her that it was none of her business and to get lost before she even said hi – so she got out of there and went to find the first empty fireplace that would bring her to the Burrow.

***

Lily stumbled through her own fireplace, completely replete and with a piece of parchment filled to the brim with notes about recipes. She had had the best idea: visiting Grandma Molly during lunch time not only meant that she wouldn’t have to answer to any suspicious questions about her new job – why wasn’t she at the newsroom? What was her job about anyway? – but she was also sure that her grandma would feed her until Lily was ready to roll all the way over to the couch to nap. And she did just that, not before she had asked Grandma Molly to fill in four feet of parchment with the recipes that the second person needed to replace her ruined book.

She dragged herself over to her couch and mentally high fived herself for not feeling guilty in the least for spending most of her day on comfortable sofas instead than a desk.

After all, if her job came with some perks, who was she to disregard them completely? She sighed contentedly, wondering if she had time for another little nap before she had to copy the two letters and replies on two pieces of parchment and had to start working on the third one.

She briefly glanced around herself, noticing some more of her boxes lying around. Maybe she should unpack the remaining of her stuff, it was starting to bother her too, she had Summoned her toiletries that morning and her brush had hit her square in the face in the process.

But after deep consideration, she decided that it wasn’t that bad, and she wondered, in case she waited a bit longer, if Hugo would do that for her. She yawned and thought that if he did do that, it wouldn’t have been quite fair.

Then she just fell asleep.

***

This time it wasn’t a delicious smelling plate of bacon that woke her up, but a feeling of something sticky pouring over her neck. She blinked and brought a hand to her throat, knocking something to the floor in the process. When she brought her hands back in front of her eyes, they were covered in ink.

“Oh come on!” she snapped, sitting up.

The sun was still up in the sky, and she could see the empty ink bottle shining on the floor, while drops of dark ink were spotting her top, the couch and the carpet.

“Bloody hell,” she muttered. She searched for her wand, using her clean hand to grab it, and grunted a, “ _Tergeo_ ,” towards herself and the offended surfaces.

When everything was finally clean, she sat up straight and crossed her legs placing the parchments on each knee and starting to meticulously copy the letters before she delved into the answers.

First, she copied Grandma Molly’s recipes, cutting short around all those, _but don’t you worry, this may sound difficult, Lily dear, but I’m here to help you if you need help with the turkey_. Once that was done, she started writing her reply to _Bigbottom99_.

> _Dear Bigbottom99,_
> 
> _You’re right, summer is here and I too couldn’t be happier about it! ~~Even though, now that I think about it, I guess you were sarcastic when you said that you were happy about it~~. What better season to go to the beach and to beach parties? Beach parties are great fun! ~~I’ve been given my first kiss at a beach party!~~ Alas, I do understand what you mean when you say that you’re unhappy with a part of your body ~~, in fact you should see my face, it’s so covered in freckles I once spent a week trying to scrub myself clean when my brothers made me believe that it was dirt. I was five though~~. Doesn’t everybody want to be perfect? Don’t we all spend hours getting ready to go out – and I mean everybody, don’t you worry, even boys. The naked truth is that nobody is perfect. But that’s okay, you know? We don’t need to be perfect to be happy; actually being imperfect is much more fun. _
> 
> _That said, I cannot see why you can’t help yourself a little and try to make what you think is a disproportionate bottom look a little less prominent. First of all, the magic word is squats. Contrary to what you may think, squats aren’t used only to make your arse look more bubbly, but also to shape it up nicely. They are hard ~~(don’t I know it!)~~ but very rewarding. Second, a bit of a diet has never hurt anybody ~~(I guess, I haven’t really ever tried one, except once when I lived on my brothers’ secret stash of crisps for a week)~~. I’m not a qualified Healer, but I can tell you that cutting back on junk food such as Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quills in favour of a nice plate of vegetables will go a long way in helping you shaping your lower body. ~~Even though, I’m not a fan of veggies myself.~~ Finally, you can cover up the undesired part of your body with some loosely fitted tops! This is the right season too! They are so in! I suggest you buy the latest issue of Witch Weekly, I swear they have great fashion suggestions. ~~Probably better than my suggestions.~~_
> 
> _Hope this helps, Bigbottom99! You don’t need to forego any beach party because you dislike a part of your body! All you have to do is accept yourself. I’m sure your friends have already done that._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _~~Lily~~ _ _Lavender_
> 
> _PS—Let me know if you find someone special on that beach._

Lily looked at the letters and her replies and nodded satisfied. She had worked exactly half-an-hour that day and she felt rather accomplished. She was starting to like that job after all.

Feeling motivated, she opened the letter that she had retrieved from Lavender’s office that morning, resolved to show Hugo that she actually didn’t need his help at all. Maybe they could spend the evening chatting or playing Wizard’s Chess.

She nodded enthusiastically and started to read the letter.

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I’m fifteen and never been kissed. My best friends make fun of me, because they’ve all snogged at least one boy, but… I don’t like any boy at all! Not in my House or in my year. I don’t know how to say that to them, but I don’t want to be kissed. I don’t want to be kissed by a boy. There is someone I like and that I’d like to snog, but I don’t think she’s interested in me._
> 
> _What do I do? How do I keep my friends at bay? I’m scared that they’ll grab my ear and push me towards the first boy they can find this summer to let me have my first kiss._
> 
> _I so don’t want that._
> 
> _Help!_
> 
> _MissDon’tKissMe x_

Lily stared at the letter. Teenager girl, probably confused, probably trying to understand if she’s into boys or girls, needed help. That seemed easy. Really easy.

She picked up her quill and a piece of parchment.

Then she stopped.

***

The steaks were somehow half-frozen and half-burnt and the potatoes had turned into little pieces of coals when Lily threw everything into the rubbish bin. She considered Vanishing them, but was torn between showing Hugo that she had tried and failed, and not letting him know what a disaster she was in the kitchen.

Now, she was sitting at the tall chairs of the kitchen and mixing a couple of _almost_ virgin Golden Snitches in two tall glasses when she heard the key being turned in the front door. She put on her brightest smile and stood up from the chair, the two glasses in her hands.

“Welcome home, Hugo!” she greeted him brightly as he pushed the door open.

He stopped on the threshold, staring at her through his wide blue eyes, as if he wasn’t expecting her to be awake probably.

She ignored his shocked expression and walked to him.

He was redder than the day before, a mixture of the scorching sun of that summer and the strenuous trainings from which he hadn’t quite recovered yet. He looked slightly sweaty too and a bit breathless as Lily made her way to him, with her white dress swaying around her thighs.

“I made you a drink,” she announced brightly as she stopped in front of him and handed him the glass. “A nice _aperitif_ before we go out for dinner.” She raised a hand in front of his face to stop any protestations. “My treat.”

He looked from the glass to her face and back. And then back to her face. “Thank you,” he said, before adding, “Going out?”

She nodded, sipping her Golden Snitch that was not _that_ virgin at all. “We’re going to the Leaky Cauldron,” she said. “Don’t say no because I booked a table.”

He furrowed his brow as he moved from the door and closed it, leaning his broom against the wall. “I didn’t know you could book tables at the inn,” he replied, sipping from his glass too. He blinked. “Nice and strong,” he coughed.

“You can’t,” she admitted with a sigh. “But I changed already and burnt the steaks and potatoes that you bought yesterday while I tried to cook for you. Please, please, please, let me make it up to you. I… I kind of need your help again with another letter, too…”

He looked at her, his blue eyes boring into hers. “You changed for me?” he asked softly.

She smiled, relieved that that was all he had heard of her blah blah blah. “Yes,” she replied, swirling around quickly and making the dress swell around her. “You can’t let me waste this.” Her smile became even brighter. “And I’ve signed my contract today, 500 a month! We need to celebrate properly.”

He swallowed and blinked, and Lily felt suddenly rather guilty about telling him that she was making that much money without almost working at all, while he was out there training hard for free. “I’ll buy,” she added in a whisper.

He finally smiled at her. “I need to take a shower and change,” he said, “and you honestly don’t need to buy. I’ve got money saved, you know, enough to last me until September.”

“I insist, though,” she replied, relieved that he had accepted. She snatched his glass and placed it on the table with hers before grabbing his arm. It was warm and slightly sticky. “Yes, go, take a shower and change,” she ordered, dragging him towards the corridor that led to their bedrooms and the bathroom. She sniffed and giggled, “You smell.”

He looked at her, pretending to be outraged. “Hey! I’ve played for the whole day in the sun,” he protested.

She giggled as she pushed him towards the bathroom. “Hmm, manly,” she chuckled.

He stopped halfway to the bathroom and turned to look at her, his face a mask of fake annoyance. “Oh yeah?” Then his hands went to the hem of his t-shirt and he brought it up over his head.

Lily didn’t even register that she was staring at his torso: at how flushed that was for the heat and the freckles and a thin tan there too, and at how muscled he was. She hadn’t seen him in his swimming trunks since the summer before and she couldn’t believe that Quidditch and puberty had worked that well for Hugo. She wasn’t sure it was fair, to be honest, since puberty certainly hadn’t brought her the boobs she had wanted.  

She blinked when something flew towards her. She just had the time to raise her hand in front of her to grasp the t-shirt that he had thrown to her. “Hugo!” she exclaimed.

He chuckled and winked at her and then finally disappeared into the bathroom.

Lily looked at the t-shirt, and when the door closed, she brought it to her nose and inhaled sharply.

It didn’t smell that bad after all.

***

The Leaky Cauldron was filled with people. It was a Tuesday evening, but it was the summer holidays and there were groups of friends and people of all ages chatting and drinking and eating.

Lily had to make her way into the kitchen – despite the new waitress yelling at her that she was not allowed in there – to find Hannah and finally get a table for two and hopefully free drinks if not a free dinner altogether.

The table was small and tucked in a faraway corner. Lily moved her chair next to Hugo’s, telling him that she couldn’t almost hear him over the hustle of the place, when all she wanted was to produce the letter from her pocket and wait for him to work his magic and find a solution to _MissDon’tKissMe_ ’s problem.

Butterbeers, steaks and roasted potatoes arrived at a record time, and the same waitress that had yelled at Lily glared at her before glancing at Hugo and blushing.

“Here you go,” she babbled as she placed Hugo’s plate in front of him. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks,” he replied, smiling until his eyes wrinkled at the corners.

The waitress smiled too, and Lily felt the urge to put an end to that ridiculous display.

“Yeah, thank you,” she hissed, placing a hand on Hugo’s arm. “I’m sure we’ll enjoy our steaks.”

The waitress glared at her, but luckily people were gesturing for her to bring more Butterbeer and more food and she had to walk away.

“Smells divine,” said Lily, sliding her hand from his arm. She dug in as if she was starving, as if she hadn’t spent the whole day lazing about and hadn’t been fed to the brim by Grandma Molly.

Hugo too dug in like a starving man, but he had all the reason in the world to be starving.

“So, how was your day?” asked Lily, washing down some potatoes with a generous gulp of Butterbeer. She felt a bit light-headed, but that was probably because she had finished both cocktails while she waited for Hugo to get out of the shower. So, she had a very good excuse for wanting to swallow as much food as she could. She needed to send that vague feeling of tipsiness away.

“Pretty good,” he replied, cleaning his mouth in a paper napkin before sipping from his bottle. “We were divided into twos and had to try to score as many points as we could against the other. It was quite fun.”

“Oh, were you paired up with McLaggen?”

He shook his head. “A girl actually,” he replied. “Marie Moffatt, she was good.”

Lily smiled. “But you thrashed her, I hope,” she said.

He chuckled. “I beat her,” he assured her, “but she was good. And she’s nice; I bet you’d like her.”

Lily tried to keep smiling, but she suddenly didn’t feel too comfortable talking about nice girls that played Quidditch with Hugo all day long. She went back to her steak in silence, focusing on cutting it with surgical precision around the bone.

“How was your day?” asked Hugo, his voice a bit softer than before, as if he knew he had said something wrong, but couldn’t understand what. Well, Lily couldn’t either.

“Great,” she replied. “I went to the newsroom, went to see my dad, walked past Al’s office without stopping because he was talking to your future brother-in-law and didn’t want to interrupt whatever they were saying—but I think they were talking about Rose—and went to see Grandma Molly, who apparently was distraught by the fact that I didn’t show up at the Burrow the other day. And now that I think about it, she didn’t even say anything about you! I mean, you didn’t show up either!”

“I did show up,” replied Hugo, corking an eyebrow.

“No, you didn’t,” replied Lily, glancing at him. “You were home with me all day.”

He tried to suppress a chuckle without managing. “Yes,” he said, “because your day started at three in the afternoon, I had already come home by then.”

“Oh,” was all she could say before grabbing her Butterbeer and downing a nice, long gulp. “Alright.” She gestured to the rude waitress and ordered another two.

“I still got plenty,” said Hugo to the waitress. “Thank you, though.”

Lily didn’t look at the girl, imagining that she was judging her, thinking she was some sort of alcoholic. Just because Hannah had had the great idea of raising the alcohol percentage in their home-brewed Butterbeer. It still wasn’t _that_ high anyway.

Lily decided that now it was a good time to take out the letter.

“So,” she started, as she fished it out of a big pocket, “can I pick your brain?”

Hugo sat back, placing his cutlery neatly on his empty plate and taking the letter she was offering him.

“Basically,” she went on, “it’s this girl who thinks she likes girls, and doesn’t want to kiss boys.”

He nodded and read the missive attentively, his eyes narrowing every now and then. Lily stared at him as she placed parchment and a quill on the table near her plate. She couldn’t finish her potatoes, but when the waitress came and asked her if she was done she shook her head and pushed the plate in front of Hugo, who slowly finished them for her as he read.

“Alright,” he finally said, “poor thing.”

“I know, right?” sighed Lily. “And I don’t know what to tell her! I mean, it sounds so easy, but… I have no idea. Honestly. Which is weird, because I’ve wanted to kiss girls too, you know? When I was that age.” She let out another sigh. “Have you ever wanted to kiss a boy?”

Hugo shook his head. “I can’t say that I have,” he admitted before glancing at her. “But do tell me all about your experience with girls.”

She waved a hand in front of his face, and somehow the movement was a bit sluggish. “I have no real ‘experience’ with girls,” she replied. “I just wanted to kiss one girl that I really liked.”

“Do I know her?” he asked her softly.

She punched his arm playfully. “As if I’d tell you,” she replied, grabbing her Butterbeer and drinking a bit more, “then you’ll go and tell everybody.”

“Solemnly swear,” he promised.

She looked at him, but he seemed serious. “Oh alright,” she replied. “Jenny Thomas. I saw her in the showers and I dreamt about her for a week. But that was right before Michael Smith asked me out and I said yes just because he was three years older than me and knew that it would piss out Al and James.”

“And me,” muttered Hugo.

“I guess,” she giggled. “Anyway, I kind of forgot about Jenny after that.”

“So you’ve never kissed a girl,” he concluded.

She shrugged a shoulder. “I kissed tons, but at parties, during games, you know, just for fun,” she admitted. “I think you’ve even seen me once, remember? I’ve kissed Mary and Amelia and Sam…”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I still think about you and Sam when I’m in the shower.”

“Hugo!” But she laughed, too. “You just asked me about my experiences, obviously you didn’t remember.” She finished her Butterbeer, and when the waitress came again she ordered a couple of Firewhiskys.

“I really shouldn’t,” said Hugo, eyeing the little shot glasses. “I have an early rise tomorrow.”

“Oh don’t be a spoil sport,” she coaxed. “We need a bit of alcohol to reply to the letter.”

He glanced at her, quirking an eyebrow as if he really didn’t believe that, but she smiled the brightest of her smiles and pushed her chair even closer to his. “Come on,” she encouraged him, downing her glass. “Hmm, _this_ one’s nice and strong,” she coughed.

He sipped half of it and placed the glass back on the table. “I think you should focus on how you felt when you wanted to kiss Jenny,” he started. “I mean, was it an attraction that you felt? Or was it a crush? Love? You should try to relate to the girl: she’s probably a bit scared. I mean, she’s fifteen and even though she thinks she’s got all figured out, very probably she doesn’t. Maybe it’s just a passing infatuation, or maybe she needs to experiment before finding what she really likes.”

Lily nodded, taking notes on a paper napkin as passionately as if she had been under the influence of the Grand Pepperup Potion. Her words were a bit wobbly, though. “So, I should tell her that she probably doesn’t know her sexual orientation, yet,” she concluded, “that she needs to go and kiss all sorts of people.”

“No, Lily,” he chuckled.

She chuckled too, without really knowing why. She smiled up at him and leant her head against his shoulder. He was warm and his shoulder was so wide, it wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t unpleasant under her cheek.

He shifted his arm, raising it until she found herself against his chest and his hand slid over her shoulder. She closed her eyes; her eyelids were heavy, and she brought her hands to play with his fingers. She took a deep breath.

“You smell nice,” she muttered, pushing her nose against his forearm.

“It’s your shampoo,” he admitted. “I couldn’t find my shower gel anywhere.”

She leant her head over his chest again. “It’s in my room,” she confessed softly. “I forgot.”

She wasn’t sure what happened then. She was aware of him taking the quill from her hand and writing his own notes on the parchment and then it was all a bit of a blur. He paid, she thought, or Hannah didn’t let him and then they were walking home. Her eyes were closed but his arm was tight around her waist as he kept her upright.

She vaguely remembered her bed, Hugo taking her sandals off her feet and kissing her forehead as she babbled something.

He chuckled and wished her good night.

And she fell asleep before he had even closed the door.


	3. Chapter 3

***

The moment she woke up, Lily felt as if a woodpecker was actually wood pecking at her temples. She groaned as loudly as she could, somehow convinced that that would help making her headache diminish. But no, it was only worse.

“Honestly,” she muttered feebly. She opened her eyes and tried to understand where she was. It was her bed, in her room, in her flat. She was still in her dress, still wearing makeup, still feeling her mouth all drowsy.

She tried to remember something about the night before; had she embarrassed herself? Had she confessed something that she shouldn’t have? Had she screamed in the middle of the street?

No, no, no. Or at least she hoped not. It had been just her and Hugo, and he had taken care of her and nothing bad had happened. Except that now she had a powerful headache and needed the bathroom so badly her lower abdomen was in pain.

She sat up and the whole room spun around her, so it took her a long moment before she could stand up from the bed. Then, she stopped, grasped the wall and finally made her way to the bathroom. She didn’t dare look at her reflection, but instead discarded all her clothes on the floor, as well as her earrings and the bracelets and, after relieving herself, she stepped into the shower. She leant her back against the wall for long minutes before crouching on the floor and pretending to be humming in the rain, and finally she decided that it was time to wash herself. She still didn’t look at her reflection when she walked past the mirror and went back to her room.

She sat on the bed and considered getting back to sleep. Yes, that was a great idea. She would have had to dry her hair first, though, unless she wanted to wake up with a stiff neck. She searched blindly for her wand on her bedside table, but instead her hand knocked over a little ampoule.

Lily narrowed her eyes as she knelt to pick it up. “ _Hangover Potion_ ,” she read in a murmur. “Oh,” she sighed, “Hugo, I love you. I need to marry you.” She uncorked it and drank the potion in one gulp. Her headache subsided and the bad taste at the back of her mouth disappeared instantaneously.

She closed her eyes and smiled contentedly before turning to look at the bedside table again. There was a napkin, probably the same one she had scribbled on the night before. She picked it up.

> _Morning sunshine_ , it said on the top. _Hope your hangover isn’t killing you. I’ll check on you at lunchtime, how about that? Love, H xx_

“That sounds good to me,” she replied with a smile on her lips. She unfolded it completely and found her and Hugo’s notes in reply to the letter. Her words were barely understandable, while Hugo suggested Lily to tell the girl to express her feelings to the girl she liked. He also said that she should tell her pushy friends that she was not interested in boys. At the same time, though, she should be well aware of the fact that she was young, and Merlin knew how hard it is to decide what we like when we are young.

Lily sighed. As always his reply was brilliant, much better than anything she could come up with. She checked her clock and decided that she would copy the letter, pop into Lavender’s office to check for new correspondence, go to the printing room to drop off her finished letters and then be back in time to see Hugo.

Yes. That was a very good plan that deserved a very good breakfast to begin with.

***

“You’re the one who’s substituting Fruit Tart,” snorted a gangly old man over the noise of the machines in the printing room. “I can tell you that I’m not interested in makeup and stretch marks and healthy smoothies.”

Lily blinked. “I… I wasn’t going to say anything about… about those things,” she admitted unsurely. This man looked like someone who spent most of his time in that room, his fingers were covered in ink stains, and his impressive moustache seemed to be hidden under a thin layer of paper dust.

“Good. Letters there,” said Mike, nodding towards a basket. “They’re almost over, you know? Just a couple more days—two and a half-now—and we’ll need more.”

“I know,” she replied.

“You want me to stretch?”

She furrowed her brow. “I want you to _what_?”

“Stretch,” he repeated as if she was stupid. “Stretch the characters, make them bigger, so they occupy more space. I do that sometimes for Fruit Tart’s page.”

“No, I’ll bring you more tomorrow,” she assured him. She would have to invent something though, because there were no new letters in Lavender’s office and the three she had, she had just placed in the basket.

“Suit yourself,” he replied, opening the newest issue of the Daily Prophet and crossing his ankles over his desk, and thus letting her know that the conversation was over.

***

The fridge wasn’t empty, but Lily had no clue what to cook, or how to cook most of the things in there. Probably she should have prepared one of those big salads that her mother and Aunt Hermione used to have for lunch, but it sounded way too healthy and insipid for her taste.

She considered going to see Grandma Molly again, but Hugo was coming home just to check on her, she didn’t want him not to find her.

“Ah!” she exclaimed as she opened a cupboard and found an opened packet of crisps. “Mine,” she beamed as she grabbed it and brought it to the kitchen table. She started scribbling what the invented letters should be about, something easy; she didn’t really want to spend more than half-an-hour on them.

She wrote about a girl asking how to curl her hair properly with a spell; and another one who asked how to straighten it – she had listened to Rose moan all her life about that to know that it was a serious problem. She decided to add a letter about a girl infatuated with her teacher, because she had had a crush on her teacher too when she was little; and she wrote of someone who asked how to get over the loss of her cat. She also added a young man who was scared not to be accepted into the Aurors, because she had witnessed Albus’ nervous crying a couple of summers back.

Nice and easy. In fact, it was easier than writing to an actual person, she felt much less responsibility. Of course, people would still be reading those letters and probably relate to them, but she didn’t have to be too specific.

She was focused over a nice and long reply on how to find peace after your cat had gone, when the fireplace became alive with green flames and Hugo stepped out, curls in disarray, face red and sweaty.

“You okay?” was the first thing he asked her.

She grinned. “Awesome,” she replied. “You?”

He grinned back and came to sit across from her. “I’m good, but I wasn’t the one who tried to climb on top of the table to find a more comfortable place where to fall asleep last night.”

She hid her face in her hands. “You mean here in the flat, right?” she asked hopefully.

“Nope, when we reached the flat I was already carrying you around,” he grinned before eyeing the crisps. “Is that your lunch?”

She ignored his disapproving tone. “Did anyone see?” she asked.

“Not too many people. Claire helped me to carry you out, though,” he admitted.

“Who’s Claire?” she asked, glancing at him through her fingers.

He smiled. “The waitress that served us last night, she said she was sorry she kept serving you even when it was clear that you were drunk.”

Lily looked at him, outraged. “You know her name?” she thundered.

“We talked as I carried you out,” he admitted. “She was nice, honestly.”

“She was flirting with you,” snapped Lily, “that’s why she was nice to you. She was a bitch to me, didn’t you notice?” An idea popped into her brain and she almost gasped. “What did you tell her?” she asked, panicking.

Hugo furrowed his brow, probably not following. “Nothing, what did I have to tell her?”

“What did you tell her I was to you?” she asked in horror. “Did you tell her I was your cousin?”

“It didn’t come up,” he replied. “We didn’t—”

“Good, good,” sighed Lily, feeling better.

“But you _are_ my cousin,” he pointed out softly.

She looked at him, now she felt as if he was the dumb one. “Yes, but I don’t want her to think that you’re available,” she snapped. “I don’t like her, and I don’t want you to start dating someone who’s a bitch to me and then she’d hang around here all the time and make my life hell.”

He blinked. “So I have to double check all the girls that I like with you?” he asked her, and Lily couldn’t really define his tone. He didn’t seem annoyed, in fact, he was almost amused.

“No.” She looked away. “Just… just the ones that have a chance with you… I mean, like… do you like many girls?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe,” he replied. “Do you like many guys?”

She completely ignored his question. “Do you like someone now?” she asked, feeling dreadful at the very idea that he did. She loved to have him all for herself. She loved to have him taking care of her. Hell, she even loved when he took her home and put her to bed, even when she didn’t remember anything.

He opened his mouth to reply, but she stopped him, too scared to hear everything about that cute girl he played Quidditch with. “Wait, I don’t want to know,” she grunted. “Okay, I need to keep going here. I’ll see you tonight, okay? No new letters for today, so you don’t have to stay here with me while I mope about not being able to do anything.”

Hugo’s muscled shoulders hunched forward a bit. “But I like to stay here with you,” he murmured.

She blushed. “Alright, yes,” she hurried to reply, “that’s cool. We can chat, and eat ice-cream. Do we have ice-cream?”

“I’ll get some on my way home,” he replied with a smile.

She smiled back. “Awesome.” She couldn’t wait for that evening.

***

The rest of the day passed in a haze for Lily. She napped, ate some more unhealthy food and finished about fifteen fake letters. When evening came, and Hugo came back home, she discovered that she had slightly misunderstood his intention of having a proper dinner and _then_ ice-cream. She was quite decided to have ice-cream for dinner instead, but he locked the freezer with a charm and made her some delicious pasta first.

She was unsure about how she felt about their situation. She loved it, that was for sure, but she didn’t know if she felt more like a younger sister been looked after by her brother – even though Al and James had never looked after her like that. Or like a daughter with her affectionate father, or even like a young woman and her sweet and perfect boyfriend that all of her girlfriends would envy her for. For how comfortable they were with each other, she even felt a bit like they were husband and wife at times.

They ate ice-cream and played Wizard’s Chess and chatted until Hugo announced that it was bedtime for him. She almost wanted to stop him, ask him to stay up with her until sunrise, but he had to be up at sunrise to go to the trainings. Maybe one weekend they could do that, if they didn’t tire of each other’s company first.

***

There were no letters for most of the week. Lily was torn between feeling the happiest young woman on earth and coming to the realisation that her job was kind of a joke. Well, she already knew that. Her mother knew that, too. Mr Quills believed that, too, and without a doubt Mike, the editor, did too.

And Lily would have already descended into the deepest pits of depression about that if it wasn’t for Hugo, who seemed to be the only one who took her job more seriously than she did. Every day he asked her if there were new letters, and then gave her suggestions even on the fake ones, making her feel important, somehow, making her feel as if she was doing something important with her life.

Probably if he knew that she spent most of her time napping or eating junk food – thank Merlin she had the metabolism of a squirrel – or visiting their cousins and Shell Cottage to go to the beach, he too would start losing interest in her joke of a job.

Or maybe he knew, but he didn’t care.

Anyway, Lily was over the moon when she walked into Lavender’s office on Friday morning and found a letter. That day, she was already excited and terrified because, according to her calculations, that was the day that Mike would start to include her replies – the real and the fake ones – to the page and she looked forward and dreaded that moment with equal force.

But at least, she would have a whole weekend to reply to that letter, because apparently things like Lavender’s Agony Aunt Column were not important enough for the weekend editions and they disappeared to give more room to word games and sports news.

She dumped a pile of letters and replies into Mike’s basket and he barely looked at her, nodding distractedly, before she dashed out and hurried back at home.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I have the biggest, most annoying, nosiest family ever. I don’t think you can even imagine. My relatives are everywhere and everybody knows everything about everyone. I have no privacy whatsoever, especially on Sundays when we all meet for lunch. It’s just a big mess and everywhere you go there’s someone asking you tons of questions._
> 
> _And now I have a problem. My boyfriend is coming home from abroad and I want to spend time with him, but I know my parents would disown me if I ditched Sunday lunch for sex – that’s not what I would say to them, don’t worry. So, I’ve decided to invite him to my grandma’s house and try to squeeze in a quickie between a course and the other._
> 
> _When is the better time to try to get laid? Before everyone gets there? After the first course? During the Quidditch match with my cousins? Maybe we could fly a bit farther away… Or is it better in the bathroom, we’d have to be quiet, but at least we can lock the door. Or my dad’s old room?_
> 
> _Let me know! I trust you!_
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Needsexnow xx_

***

Lily dug her heels into Hugo’s thigh. “So?” she asked when he didn’t look up from the letter. “What do you think?”

He raised a hand to quiet her and she went back to her plate of fish and chips and mushy peas. She didn’t particularly like the mushy peas, but Hugo had given her a generous little mountain anyway, to compensate for the piece of tiramisu she had had for lunch, he said.

He had glared at her when she started shaping it into a fish, so she pushed a generous forkful into her mouth and grinned a pea-covered grin to him. He shook his head, and then proceeded to jokingly roll his eyes.

Finally, he folded the letter and placed it on the armrest of the couch, before going back to his chips.

“So?” asked Lily again. “What do you think?”

Hugo took a deep breath. “Sounds like this _Needsexnow_ has never seen our family if she thinks hers is the biggest, most annoying and nosiest one.”

She nodded. “That’s exactly what I thought! We should invite her to Sunday lunch at the Burrow and see who’s got the most annoying family,” she muttered.

He smiled. “We would win big time.”

“Definitely,” she replied. “But… what about the reply?” She tried to smile back at him, but he didn’t seem as inspired as he usually was.

He shrugged a shoulder. “What do you think?”

“I have no clue, Hugo,” she whinged. “I’ve never invited anybody to Sunday lunch, or anywhere with the family; I have no idea when or where it’s best to have a quickie without your relatives finding out.” She glanced at him, flattening the peas against the plate. “What about you?” she asked nonchalantly. “Did you… did you invite anybody over?”

He shook his head, and somehow Lily felt relieved when she knew she should have actually felt disappointed that he didn’t have any first-hand experience. “Nope, never invited anybody to the Burrow,” he replied. “Can you imagine James and Fred? They would do their best to embarrass me in front of my lady-friend.”  

“They’re just jealous,” she stated with a grin, “because their girlfriends never stick around for longer than a weekend.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty bad,” chuckled Hugo.

Lily flattened the peas even more, pushing them a bit under the few remaining chips to try to hide them from Hugo’s eyes.

Suddenly, Hugo shifted a bit on the couch. “Maybe…” he started, but his voice trailed away and he lowered his eyes. “No, it’s stupid.”

Lily dug her heels more insistently in his leg. “I’m sure it’s not,” she urged him. “And even if it is, it’s better than what I have, which is a big pile of nothing.”

He seemed to flush slightly, but it was difficult to tell in the dim light of the sunset. “It’s really stupid,” he muttered, “and you’re going to laugh at me.”

She gave him some little kicks on his leg, until he had to grab one of her ankles to make her stop. “Never,” she said cheerfully. “I’ll never laugh at you.”

He took a deep breath and rubbed his thumb over her bone. “I thought,” he started slowly. “I thought that we could test… test the Burrow for Needsexnow.”

Lily stiffened slightly, while she felt her heart skip a beat. “You mean like…” she whispered, feeling a weird tightening in her stomach.

“No, Merlin no!” Hugo hurried to reply. “Not _that_ ,” he said, blushing even more. “I meant, we could like… pretend. As if we were looking for a…”

“A way to have a quickie?” asked Lily, her voice low and very throaty all of a sudden. She tried to clear her throat as subtly as she could.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “But we don’t. We just try to disappear between courses, and try to find a place where nobody looks for us, and see if there’s a good way to… you know…”

“Have sex while all of your family is in the same house?” she asked, her voice still hoarse.

“Yeah,” he replied softly. “Told you it was stupid.”

Lily tried to push that feeling at the pit of her stomach away. “No,” she said, “it’s brilliant.”

“Really?” he asked, glancing at her askew.

She nodded, a grin tugging at her lips. “Absolutely,” she assured him. “It sounds perfect! We can try to do all those things that couples do! Like you go into the bathroom first and then I follow you and lock the door, or we pretend to be looking for the Quaffle and end up in Granddad’s shed, or we use one of the gazillion rooms upstairs.” She looked at him, eyes lightening up. “It’s brilliant!”

He finally smiled back, relaxing once more. “Glad to hear that,” he said, probably looking relieved that she hadn’t laughed at him or reacted the wrong way.

“Didn’t have any doubts,” she replied. “Have you finished? Can I clear the… the couch?”

“I’ve finished,” he replied, eyeing her plate, “but you still have your mushy peas.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” She tried to stand up, but he closed his hand around her ankle. “Let me go!” she laughed when he dragged her to him and grabbed the plate off her hands.

“Here,” he said, moving away the chips and scooping up the now almost cold mushy peas.

“No!” she tried to wriggle free as he got closer and closer. “Hugo! I swear!”

“They’re healthy, Lily.” He tried to push the fork against her mouth.

She shook her head, pressing her lips tightly together.

“Open,” he said. “Open or I’m gonna pluck your nose.”

She tried hard not to laugh, but she couldn’t resist, and when she burst into a fit of giggles, Hugo took the opportunity to push the peas into her mouth. She tried to scold him, but she didn’t manage to do even that.

“Swallow,” he instructed her seriously, “otherwise I won’t—”

But she had already jumped up and run away towards the kitchen, laughing and waiting for him to chase her with more unwanted peas.

***

Lily was sure of one thing: she was not going to wake up early on Sunday morning. Hugo had pointed out that the earlier they got to the Burrow, the easier their research would be – with less people around they would have had more chances not to be found – but she had dismissed those thoughts with the accusation that that was cheating. It wasn’t, she just didn’t want to wake up early.

On Saturday night, they had stayed up late, trying to decide what to do with their lives that evening, until it was well past the time they could do anything at all. Hugo had been invited to a little gathering – not a party apparently – with all his fellow aspiring Quidditch players, and he had asked Lily to go with him. She hadn’t been too keen, though, and when she had insisted that he’d go by himself to meet Marie and the others, he had suddenly backpedalled and told her that he’d rather stay home with her than go out with a group of people that he didn’t know that well.

Lily had felt simultaneously guilty and relieved. She had tried to backpedal in her decision as well, but her protestations had been so feeble that he had managed to dismiss them rather easily.

She had proposed to go to the inn for drinks, but then he had jokingly called her an alcoholic and she had pretended to be offended. And after all, she didn’t really want to see Claire again.

For a while, they caressed the idea of going to Grimmauld Place, but that was where their parents always met up on Saturday night, to have their double date, and they certainly couldn’t have showed up like that. They were not a couple, nor were they anywhere as old as the four of them.

In the end, they stayed up until the early hours of the morning, dozing off every now and then on the couch while they talked. Lily wasn’t even quite sure what they talked about, but the conversation had never stalled and they had never gotten bored. Which was weird, since she had imagined that after a week of living together the novelty of actually _living together_ would get old and they would finally look for entertainment in some other place. Instead, they still enjoyed each other’s company, like a couple of best mates.

On Sunday morning, Lily rolled over in her bed, bringing the sheets up to her head to screen herself from the evil sunrays that were filtering through her curtains. She wasn’t sure of the time, but if Hugo hadn’t come to wake her up yet, it mustn’t have been too late, anyway.

They were expected at the Burrow at twelve sharp, everybody always was. Grandma Molly had made some really high-pitched sounds when Lily had Floo Called the Burrow to let her know that they’d be there for Sunday lunch.

Hugo had silently chortled and then pretended to scold her for having missed the Sunday before. She had pretended to pout and they had ended up doing a pillow fight with the ugly cushions that their fathers had left in the flat.

She rolled over again and tried to listen. The flat was quiet, which meant that either Hugo was still sleeping too, or that he had already left for some weird reason that Lily had no clue what it was, or that he had cast a Silencing Charm around her room so that she would not be disturbed.

She smiled at the thought before reminding herself that those were only conjectures and she had no clue what he was actually doing. Did she want to find out? Not _that_ much as to have to get out of bed and walk around the flat and far away from her bed.

She pushed herself upwards. After all, though, Hugo had a bed in his room, too. She could just drag herself to his bed, just to see what he was doing, and then go back to sleep there. Yes, she kicked the sheets back and stood up, dragging her feet across the floor and towards the door.

The moment she opened it, her ears were filled with the Weird Sisters singing out loud and the rhythmic bouncing of a ball against a surface. He really had charmed her room not to disturb her.

A goofy smile plastered on her face as she made her way towards the source of those noises. She stopped when she stepped in front of the bathroom, though, washed her face quickly and brushed her long hair to give herself the semblance of civility.

She didn’t knock, he wouldn’t have heard her anyway, so she just pushed the door open and walked in his room as if she did that every morning.

Hugo started and the training Bludger almost hit him in the face; he ducked at the last second with admirable reflexes.

She grinned at him and just simply walked to his bed, plopping and bouncing on it before she managed to worm under the sheets. They smelled nice and she hugged the pillow and sank her head in it.

The music was turned down and there was a dip in the mattress as he sat next to her. “Damn,” he said. “Did the charm wear off? Sorry about that.”

She shook her head. “Nah,” she replied, “it was too quiet and I just wanted to see what you were up to.” She closed her eyes and yawned. “Are you training? Seriously?”

“Just throwing and dodging a bit,” he replied nonchalantly. “I was waiting for you to get up or for a decent time to come and wake you up.”

“I’m definitely not up yet,” she replied sleepily. She stretched her legs and with one foot she bumped into Hugo, while the other reached the wall. She furrowed her brow. “Your bed seems so small,” she murmured.

“That’s because it’s a single,” he said, throwing the Bludger and catching it again.

Lily nodded, before opening her eyes wide. “Mine’s a queen-size!” she exclaimed, looking up at him.

He smiled and threw the ball again. “I know,” he replied.

“I didn’t.” She pushed herself to a sitting position. “I mean, I didn’t know that yours wasn’t a queen-size too!”

He shrugged. “I thought that was why you chose your room,” he admitted, “because it was bigger.”

“My room is bigger?” she asked, finally looking around herself. “But yours looks bigger than mine.”

“That’s because mine is tidy,” he pointed out.

She glared at him, but she knew he was right. “You’re free to come and tidy mine whenever you want.”

He stuck out his tongue to her. “We should probably get ready.” He stood up. “We don’t want to be late for lunch, or Grandma will never let it go.”

“I still haven’t had breakfast,” she pointed out.

He placed the Bludger away. “I know,” he replied, starting to take out his clothes from his wardrobe. “Bacon and eggs on toast are on the table.”

She beamed at him. “I love you.”

He winked, smiling back. “Right back at you.”

***

“Oh Lily, I missed you so, so, so, so, so much!”

If someone hadn’t known Grandma Molly, they would have thought that Lily had been lost somewhere for years and only now had been found and returned to her family.

“I saw you on Tuesday, Gran,” Lily gasped out as she was squeezed like a lemon by the still incredibly strong arms of her grandma. “Remember? You fed me and squeezed me and helped me out with the recipes.”

Grandma Molly let her go. “Yes, but you weren’t here last week,” she reminded her seriously.

“And you’re not going to guilt-trip me about that, thank you, Gran,” she said cheerfully. “I’m starving, you know,” she tried to change the subject. “I hope you made some roast beef and a huge cake as I was promised…”

“I promised no such thing,” she replied, brandishing a wooden spoon affectionately.

“But you made them anyway, right?” asked Lily, trying to put her most adorable expression on and charm her grandmother.

She knew it had worked when Grandma Molly smiled brightly. “Of course, everything for my Lily,” she gushed.

“Thanks, Gran!” She hugged her and bolted for the door, using the excuse that maybe the girls need her help with setting the table. Dominique and Rose had seen to that though, having to show to their boyfriends what good, little housewives they would be one day. They had even brought some food they had made themselves, Dominique some French dish that Lily couldn’t really pronounce, and Rose had made some kind of salad filled with probably everything she had in her kitchen.

Lily walked into the living room, where everybody was either sitting or standing, and they definitely seemed to be talking all at the same time. How they got to understand each other was a mystery to anyone who was not a Weasley or a Potter.

“Dad said that it looks like you grew.” A heavy arm came to rest on the top of Lily’s head. “But it doesn’t really look like that.”

“James!” she huffed, trying to push him away. “You’re heavy, get off.”

James chuckled as he ruffled up her long hair. “Oh someone’s a bit cranky,” he said, sliding his arm over her shoulders and pulling her to his chest before rubbing his knuckles on top of her head. “Is it because you had to wake up before midday?”

She pushed against his chest and when he let her go, she glared at him. “You messed up my hair!” she snapped, combing with her fingers through her locks.

“That’s what you get for coming to the Ministry and not even coming to see me, your own brother!” He brought a hand to his chest, pouting. “I was really hurt.”

“That’s what you get for not helping me with the moving,” she replied, sticking out her tongue to him.

He sighed. “I knew I should have postponed my romantic date to help you with the thousands boxes you had. Now you’re going to hold it against me for the rest of my life.”

“Exactly,” she informed him tersely. “Where’s your date, by the way?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “It didn’t work out,” he replied. “She talked way too much.” He looked at her and grinned. “Almost more than you.”

She folded her arms across her chest, unimpressed with his poor attempt at humour. Luckily, Grandma Molly called them from the dining room and a mass of people – some of whom either pushed Lily forward or hugged her or patted her head – flocked into the dining room.

“I’d say a good moment to disappear is right after the roast beef,” murmured Hugo as he walked past her. “While everybody is complaining about how full they are, but won’t leave the table until pudding.”

She glanced up at him and winked. “Great idea,” she managed to murmur back before being whisked away by Rose.

“Lily, I haven’t seen you in ages,” she grinned as she pushed her down on a chair next to her. “I want to know everything about this new job of yours.”

“We all do,” said Albus, sitting in front of Scorpius, who was sitting next to Rose.

“I bet you don’t, Hugo,” chuckled James. “I bet she’s already driven you nuts.”

There was laughter down to the far off corner where the adults were seated, and Lily couldn’t help rolling her eyes at her silly family. She smiled too though, after all she did talk a lot and yes, probably she had already driven Hugo nuts, even if he masked it very well.

“I just bring in the coffee and new stationery when needed,” she said, trying not to sound too dismissively.

“Even to Mum?” asked Albus, grinning.

“Especially to Mum,” replied their mother from down the table, grinning at them.

“Yeah,” said Lily, glowering a bit, “especially to her.”

“I bet you order coffee just to see Lily, Auntie Ginny,” said Roxanne, giggling.

“Maybe,” replied her mother as she helped herself to some roast beef and gravy.

“Look who’s talking,” said Aunt Angelina with a grin, “as if you weren’t working with your daddy dearest.”

There was more laughter, and Lily was relieved that this time it wasn’t addressed to her. She glanced at Hugo and saw that he was smiling at her; she smiled back, but then was distracted by the gigantic serving dish covered in a mountain of thin slices of roast beef that floated towards her.

“Finally,” she said brightly. “I’m starving.”

Albus chuckled at that and elbowed James who nodded and laughed as well.

“What?” asked Lily, glaring at them.

“Nothing,” they said together, meaning that of course there was something. “It’s just,” Albus added, “that now that we have a proper look at you…”

“…we know why Dad said that you look… _bigger_.”

“He said taller!” snapped Lily.

“Yeah, that you’re not.”

“What do you mean, pray tell,” hissed Lily as she poured herself more gravy on top of her meat.

They laughed again and now even Louis was chuckling and shaking his head.

“Bet you survive on junk food,” said James. “Since you can’t cook.”

“And it’s showing a bit,” added Albus before grinning. “I so want to pinch those chubby cheeks of yours.”

Lily felt her face going up in flames; she brought both hands to her cheeks and could feel them becoming hotter with every second that passed. She wasn’t chubby, was she?

“Oh shut up, you two,” Rose snapped. “Don’t listen to them, Lily,” she added gently. “They’re just jealous because they’re older than you and only now moved out of their parents’ house. When they were your age, they were still looked after by their mummy. Can’t you see that they don’t even know how to dress themselves since Kreacher doesn’t lay down their clothes in the morning for them anymore?”

James and Albus looked outraged at Rose, but the whole table started laughing and even Teddy joined in with some bantering about the two Potter boys.

The roast beef was delicious as always and Lily used two tiny Yorkshire Puddings to scoop up all the gravy, she made a great show of eating all the greens too, and told her brothers that she had had mushy peas for dinner the night before. She glanced at Hugo pleadingly and he just smiled subtly at her.

There was chatting and laughter throughout the whole meal, and little quarrels about jobs and flats and boyfriends that died as soon as they started. Lily was glad to be there after all: it was nice to spend time with her family.

“Lucy, when’s Frank coming home from Sweden?” asked Fred, trying to stop the floating plate once more to get a third helping of roast beef.

Lucy’s grin seemed to take up all of her minuscule face. “Two weeks!” she replied. “You’re all going to see him because I’ve invited him here for Sunday lunch.”

“You want to scare him off?” asked Roxanne.

“It hasn’t scared Scorpius off,” pointed out Albus. “Nor Ryan,” he added, nodding towards Dominique’s fiancé.

“But he’s going to be here only for a fistful of days,” pointed out Dominique. “Wouldn’t you prefer to… you know?”

“To do what?” asked Auntie Fleur, eyes ablaze.

Dominique grinned at her. “To go to a museum, Mother, of course!”

Auntie Fleur glared at her middle child before starting to Summon dirty plates from the table with her sisters-in-law.

“I’ll help,” offered Rose, standing up.

Lily was about to stand up as well, when a foot clad in a training shoe nudged her gently on her toes. She looked up and met Hugo’s eyes. For a moment, she had almost forgotten about what they had to do there. She nodded hastily and waited for some more people to stand and start to clear the table.

Hugo got up too, he mumbled a, “Be right back,” to nobody in particular, and walked out of the room. Nobody seemed to notice, so Lily pushed her chair back too and, without meeting anybody’s eyes, she followed him into the hall.

He was waiting for her on the stairs, and when their eyes met she grinned, suffocating a giggle as she ran up to him. He grinned back, grasped her hand and started to climb up the stairs two steps at a time, dragging her behind him.

They kept climbing, until they reached the room that had once been his father’s. Hugo pushed the door open and closed it quietly at their backs, and the moment they were both standing inside, they burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“Why are you laughing?” asked Lily, giggling.

“I don’t know,” he chuckled. “It was fun, I guess.”

She nodded and smiled. “It was,” she replied, going towards one of the beds. She sat on it and drew out a piece of parchment and a tiny quill from her jeans pocket. “Alright,” she said in her most business-like tone. “Attempt number one: the remote bedroom.” She started writing. “Get out of the dining room while there’s a bit of chaos, nobody will notice. Find the most remote bedroom in the house and… lock the door?”

Hugo shook his head. “If someone comes to look for them, they’re going to get suspicious if the door is locked,” he said sensibly, as he sat next to her.

“If they walk on them while they do the nasty, they are going to get more than suspicious,” she pointed out.

He seemed to think about that. “Tell her to be quick?” he asked unsurely.

“Quick?” asked Lily. “How do I tell her to do that?”

“Well, first of all,” he said, patting her thigh, “no jeans. Tell her to wear a dress, it’s much easier to pull up and then move her knickers aside, right?”

Lily looked at him, cheeks a bit flushed. “I guess,” she replied throatily. She scribbled down his suggestions.

“Then, if they haven’t seen each other in ages, I’m sure it won’t take them too long anyway,” he added, “and maybe they can do it while they sit? So if someone walks in on them they can try to pretend that they are just kissing…”

Lily took note of all the things he was saying, her teeth torturing her bottom lip. “Looks like you know a lot about the subject,” she mumbled nonchalantly. “Were you lying when I asked you if you have ever had someone here?”

He shifted on the bed. “Well, to be honest, I was in here with someone,” he said, his voice relaxed.

“In here?” asked Lily, looking up at him sharply. “Like in this room?”

He nodded, pursing his lips as if thinking about that day. “She was the prettiest girl, I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Bit chubby and noisy, but she was quite a sight.”

Lily didn’t really want to hear another word. She was just annoyed with him that he had lied to her. He could have told her everything about his adventure in there with a girl when she’d asked, and now she’d be downstairs helping her cousins to clear the table. “How old was she?” she found herself asking anyway.

“Young. I think she was about three days old the first time we met in here.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed, as she felt alternatively relieved and a bit annoyed. “I wasn’t chubby and I wasn’t noisy!” she snapped. “And if I were three days old, then you were two months old, you wouldn’t even remember!”

He brought a hand to his chest. “Of course I remember our first encounter.” He pretended to pout. “Why, don’t you? You break my heart, my dear Lily.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “We’ve got pictures,” she reminded him. “That’s how you remember.” She skimmed through her notes. “How long has it been since we’ve come in here?”

“I don’t know, five minutes?” he asked back.

“Is that enough?” she asked, trying to remember the last time she had had sex. Months before and she’d been slightly drunk. How long had it taken her before she passed out?

“More than enough for the guy, probably,” he chuckled before looking at her seriously. “Not me, though, I need at least an hour.”

Lily laughed aloud. “Yes, right,” she scoffed. “Anyway, nobody came, I’d say that I can tell her that she’s safe in here for about five to ten minutes, to wear a dress and use it to hide what they are doing as they do it in a sitting position.”

“And don’t lock the door,” he added.

“And don’t lock the door,” she repeated. “Sounds good.”

He stood up and offered her a hand. “Well, let’s go and see if anybody is wondering where we are.”

“Right!” she exclaimed, having almost completely forgotten about all the other people. “I’ll meet you in the shed as we go looking for the Quaffle, alright?”

He smiled and winked at her. “I can barely wait.

***

Nobody seemed to notice that they had wandered off together and that they were walking back into the dining room at the same time. They decided that pretending to be talking was the best way to look normal, and it worked. Of course, the fact that they wandered back the moment pudding was being brought to the table – and the fact that it was chocolate cake – helped to keep the family distracted.

Lily helped herself to a gigantic slice, and so did almost everybody, except Rose and Dominique who didn’t want to look like they were little pigs. Scorpius and Ryan didn’t seem to mind them at all, since they were stuffing their faces with cake.

When not even the crumbs were left on the plate, Lily’s father and all of her uncles made their way to the living room, where they would have a shot of Firewhisky, while the women would help Grandma Molly cleaning while chatting.

“So, who’s up for some Quidditch?” asked Albus, patting Hugo’s shoulder. “I pick Hugo for my team.”

“Who says you’re team captain?” asked Rose. “We should draw lots.”

“Yeah,” Scorpius came to his girlfriend’s support. “You should, while I nap a bit.”

“You’ll play Scorpius,” said Fred, grinning almost madly.

“Yes,” said Rose tersely. “Come on, who wants to play?”

Everybody gathered around Rose except for Victoire, whose eight-month-pregnant belly wouldn’t have allowed her to fly fast enough to either dodge a Bludger, score a point, grab the Snitch or save the Quaffle.

“Alright, everybody write their name on a piece of parchment, fold it, and put it in my glass,” she said, drying it with a spell.

They did as they were told and Rose put her hand on the top and shuffled the little pieces of parchment. “Lily,” she said, offering her the glass.

“Why is it always her?” complained Albus.

“Because she’s the youngest,” replied Rose calmly.

Lily stuck out her tongue to her brother and fished out the first team captain. She groaned as she read the name on it. “Al,” she sighed.

“Ah-a!” he said triumphantly. “And I want Hugo!”

“Not so fast,” said Rose, nudging Lily to draw another name.

She groaned almost as loudly as the first time. “Hugo.” Now, how were they supposed to go and look for the Quaffle? He was team captain; they would interrupt the game until he was back.

“Oh no, come on!” growled Al.

“Great,” said Rose brightly. “Let’s go outside and play this game.”

They all stood up, happy to do a bit of exercise to digest the heavy meal, but sluggish in their movements as they were still full of cake.

Hugo walked up to her and whispered, “Hey, it’s okay, attempt number two is just not going to work. We’ll meet in the bathroom later, alright?”

She looked up at him and nodded thoughtfully, before punching his arm playfully. “You’re going to pick me, aren’t you?” she asked aloud. “Flatmates have to stick together.”

“Well, don’t worry, I’m not going to pick you,” chuckled Albus.

“Oh I’m going to score so many goals against you, you have no idea,” snapped Lily, glaring at her brother.

“Please, Hugo would be a fool if he made you play as a Chaser,” said James. “You know you’re best as a Seeker.”

She fumed all the way to the makeshift Quidditch pitch that her grandparents had set up for them ages before. But Hugo picked her first, amongst the general hilarity of her cousins, and she was allowed to play as a Chaser.

She didn’t score a single point, but Teddy and Molly did, and they won anyway when Rose found the Snitch.

***

“That was exhausting,” complained Scorpius as he plopped down on the couch. “And now I stink and I’m all sweaty.”

Rose laughed rather unsympathetically. “I’ll make you a cup of tea,” she told her boyfriend.

“Make it two,” said Dominique.

“Three.”

“Four.”

“Make it for everybody,” said Lucy. “Oh alright, I’ll help you.” She linked arms with Rose and giggled all the way to the kitchen, murmuring something about Rose’s birthday, which was in roughly a month. They laughed and nodded almost conspiratorially.

“Girls,” murmured Fred.

“Girls,” agreed the other boys with little nods.

Lily rolled her eyes and Roxanne with her. “Boys,” she muttered under her breath.

“Boys,” agreed her cousin with a giggle.

“Where are you going? Don’t you want a cup of tea?”

Everybody turned towards Dominique, and then followed her glance until they were staring at Hugo, who was clearly making his way out of the living room. “I do,” he replied calmly. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” asked Albus, eyebrow cocked questioningly.

“The loo,” replied Hugo, and there was a shade of irritation in his voice.

People nodded dismissively and went back to their chatting. Hugo glanced at her, and then disappeared into the hall.

She tried to think about what to say if someone questioned her on her way to the bathroom. Maybe that she had to powder her nose? Or maybe that she had a case of the runs, at least they would stay far away from the bathroom. Unless they went to tell her mother and then she would be at her door for the whole time.

To top that, she didn’t even know in which bathroom Hugo was waiting for her. There were two and a half bathrooms there; hopefully he wasn’t in the toilet on the ground floor, because that was too small for two people. One was on the first floor and the other one near Uncle Ron’s room. They were both quite big, and she just hoped that Victoire wasn’t in one of the two. She would have to knock, that was sure, but now she wished that they had agreed upon a particular knock.

“Are you okay?” asked Molly, patting her arm. “You look so focused.”

“Yes,” replied Lily quickly. “I’m perfectly fine, thank you, Mols.”

“What are you thinking about?” asked Roxanne, getting closer to her. “Some guy at your new job?”

She thought about Mike and Mr Quills and did her best not to grimace. “No, actually,” she replied, “just that I really have to go… looking for a… for a thing…”

“What thing?” asked James, furrowing his brow.

“A thing,” she replied, standing up. “A thing…” Then an idea popped into her mind. “A woman’s thing.”

Her female cousins nodded in understanding. “There’s probably some upstairs,” murmured Roxanne knowingly. Her brothers and the other boys turned the colour of the setting sun. She tried to suffocate a triumphant grin at having embarrassed them, and made her way towards the hall with her head held high.

When she reached the stairs, she hurried to the first floor. There were voices coming from the nearby rooms, Victoire was talking quickly in French with her mother about her _bébé_ , Auntie Hermione and her mother were chatting about menopause problems, Granddad Arthur was singing a song about plugs.

She slid against the wall, walking on tiptoes to the bathroom and knocked softly on the door. She couldn’t call his name, people would get suspicious. She tried to push the door open, and when she did, Uncle Ron’s voice let her know that it was occupied.

“Alright, sorry,” she said. She made her way to the stairs and climbed them up to the last floor, walking straight to the other bathroom.

She knocked softly once more, and this time the door opened and she was dragged inside before she could even notice Hugo’s hand closing around her wrist.

“You took your time,” he whispered to her, closing the door at their backs and locking it.

She turned to look at him as he went to the bathtub and sat on the edge. “Well, first of all, I didn’t know where you were,” she pointed out sourly, “and second, our family is nosey.”

He shushed her. “There are people everywhere in this house,” he whispered. “We need to keep our voices down.”

She nodded in understanding and took out the piece of parchment, unfolding it, she leant it against the sink. “So, attempt number two: the shed,” she said as she wrote the words, “was a failure.” She glanced in the mirror over the sink and Hugo nodded at her back. “Attempt number three: the bathroom,” she went on. “People get nosey and you have to make up excuses if more than one person needs the bathroom at the same time.” She looked at Hugo and grimaced. “I had to tell them that it was my time of the month.”

He smiled. “That’s a good excuse actually,” he said. “They’re not going to think that they’re having sex if it’s her time of the month.”

She brightened up. “Genius,” she said as she wrote. “Absolutely genius.”

“Tell her that this time it’s imperative to lock the door,” he added as an afterthought.

She nodded and wrote everything he was suggesting. When she finished and he seemed not to have anything to add, she raised her eyes to look at him. He smiled through the mirror.

“Should I add a warning that it’s not going to be comfortable?” she asked, looking around herself.

He furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Well, there’s no bed here,” she started, “and unless they want to do it in the bathtub—which I bet is very uncomfortable without water—or on the toilet.” She shuddered at the thought. “They’ll have to stand.”

He tried to suffocate a laugh. “I really can’t see the problem.”

She rolled her eyes. “What if they’re anything like us?” she asked. “I mean, you do realise that for us it would be impossible to do it while we stand.”

Hugo cocked his head, trying to understand what she was talking about probably. How could he not understand it was a mystery to Lily. “Beg your pardon?” he asked.

“You’re like half-giant,” she said, “and I’m like half-garden gnome. Logistically it’s impossible.”

He snorted at that. “You mean I’d be too tall for you?” he asked.

She looked at him in the mirror. “I mean exactly that,” she replied, raising her chin, challenging him to disproof what she was saying.

He shook his head and stood up. “Honestly, Lily,” he murmured, walking to her, “don’t you know that a guy would do anything to fool around with a girl?” He placed his hands on the sink, caging her as he pressed himself against her back. “Even defy logic.”

She looked up at him, trying to ignore the blush that was creeping up her neck because of his tone of voice. “I can’t even see your head in the mirror,” she pointed out, “and your hipbones are against my shoulder blades.” It was an exaggeration and he laughed almost too loudly.

“What if I bend my knees,” he murmured. His hands found their way to her waist and he angled her arse back, until it was fitting against his groin.

She held her breath, not moving a muscle. Her hands closed spasmodically around the parchment, the quill, and the edge of the sink. “Then you’d get a cramp before we even finish,” she murmured.

He lowered his head, until she could finally see it again in the mirror. “I was joking about needing an hour. If the girl is pretty, I only need five minutes,” he whispered in her ear.

She swallowed. “You’re going to get a cramp,” she repeated almost mechanically.

He chuckled. “How about…” He stepped back and made her turn around. She felt his fingers pressing around her waist as he raised her from the floor and sat her on the sink.

She grasped his arm to steady herself as he fitted between her legs, leaning against her. “Perfect height,” he whispered with a smile.

She swallowed again, her legs curled of their own accord around his waist. “Perfect,” she replied throatily.

His smile became more subtle as he stared at her, his tongue darted out to wet his lips and she looked at it, feeling something at the pit of her stomach, where his wand was pressing against her. Merlin, that was his wand, wasn’t it?

She bent her knee around his hip, and he pushed a bit forward, his face seemed so close to her now, closer than before. She could almost smell his breath in the air; he tasted of chocolate cake. She wondered if he could do the same with hers. Was he even closer now? She closed her eyes without even noticing and puckered her lips a bit. She felt something moving in her stomach, like a flutter of wings…

“God! Are all the bathrooms occupied?” There was a loud knock, followed by a curse and someone trying to open the door without managing.

Hugo muttered a curse too, and stepped back from between her legs as if he had just woken up from a dream.

“Shit!” exclaimed Lily as she tilted her head back and knocked it against the mirror at her back.

“Lily?” called Victoire.

“Yeah, Vicky,” she replied as she brought a hand to rub her head. “I’ll be out in a sec.”

“Kind of an emergency here,” said their cousin. “Had too much tea.”

Hugo looked at Lily with eyes wide, and Lily looked back at him just as lost. She could hear the tapping of Victoire’s foot on the floor as she tried to hold it while she waited for Lily to open the door.

“What do we do?” she murmured, as he helped her down from the sink.

He shook his head, eyes wider than before.

They needed an excuse, a good one, for being in the bathroom together. Lily tried to think, but she really didn’t have much. He couldn’t jump off the window and there was no way for him to hide in there while Victoire came in. She shouldn’t have talked, if it had been Hugo the one to talk, at least she would have fit in the cabinet under the sink and waited for Victoire to finish.

“Victoire, oncle Ron a fini, si tu veux.”

“Never mind, Lily,” snapped Victoire. “I’ll go downstairs. J’arrive!”

Lily let out a breath of relief so loud, that Hugo looked at her and laughed softly.

“Not funny,” she gritted through her teeth.

“You should see your face,” he murmured, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

“You should see yours,” she snapped.

He winked at her, and it was almost irritating how calm he looked now, when she still felt her heart beating in her throat.

“Better if we go,” he said, “before everybody suddenly needs to use the bathroom.” He winked at her again and murmured, “I’ll see you downstairs,” before sliding out of the door.


	4. Chapter 4

***

> _Dear Needsexnow,_
> 
> _I’m sure you’re excited to see your boyfriend after all this time! Especially if he’s been in a faraway land for a long while. I hope you manage to find the intimacy that you want while he’s home._
> 
> _I have to tell you that it’s not going to be easy to sneak off while your whole family is in the same house. ~~Believe me, I’ve tried!~~ But it’s somewhat manageable. And don’t you worry; I’m going to give you some pieces of advice that might come useful to you and your boyfriend. _
> 
> _First of all, if you usually have a big meal followed by an even bigger dessert, the best moment to sneak away is in that little pause between the last savoury course and pudding. Everybody is going to be so full, they won’t even understand what’s going on, and at the same time, all they’ll be able to think about is cake. They’re not going to leave the dining room or the kitchen – in case they are helping clearing the table – and you can sneak away without much clamour. Of course, if your boyfriend has never been in that house, you can even use the excuse that you want to show him around. Disappearing one at a time works too, don’t you worry. And telling them that it’s your time of the month will keep everybody away, and what’s better nobody will think that you’re having sex._
> 
> _Another good time would be during afternoon tea. Especially if you have a tradition of playing some game – like Quidditch – because after a match, everybody will be ~~bloody~~ tired and they surely won’t be following you around asking thousands of questions. Your boyfriend can also use the excuse of needing the bathroom and you can show him where it is. Don’t disappear during Quidditch to “look for the Quaffle”. People will stop the game to wait for you or, worse, they will start looking for you if you take too much time. _
> 
> _Now, location, location, location. The best places where to consummate is either the remotest room up near the attic, or a bathroom. Pros of the room: there’s a bed, people don’t usually wander in there, and you could be using the excuse that you’re still showing him around. A little suggestion: wear a skirt for a swifter coupling and to cover your lower parts. A sitting position is to prefer since you can trick even the nosiest of relatives into telling them that you were just snogging. Cons: you can’t lock the door, people instantaneously know what you are doing if you lock a bedroom door while in there with your boyfriend._
> 
> _Pros of a bathroom: you can actually lock the door (well, you have to), ~~it’s kind of exciting,~~ if someone needs the toilet (beware of pregnant women) you just pretend to be in there alone and, to send her away, tell her you’re sure that the other bathroom is vacant. ~~Something that we didn’t do, but should have done. I guess we were too caught up in the moment. Even when there was no moment at all. Nope, it was all research. All of it. I swear. Just. Research.~~ Cons: a bit uncomfortable, but don’t you worry, a guy can defy logic when he wants to fool around with a girl. And the sink is your friend. _
> 
> _Hope this was helpful. Be careful and stay safe, okay? Never forego protection, not even when you have less than ten minutes._
> 
> _Enjoy your boyfriend’s visit. ;)_
> 
> _Lavender xx_

***

When Lily walked into Lavender’s office on Monday morning, she was pleasantly surprised to find two letters waiting for her.

At a closer inspection, though, it was one letter and one note from Mr Quills, asking her to come and see him as soon as she found said note. She pocketed the letter and closed the door at her back as she made her way towards the office of the editor in chief.

A couple of people nodded at her in the corridor and she nodded back, giving them the hint of a smile. They didn’t smile back, though, and for a moment Lily noticed that she didn’t even know at least one of her colleagues, apart from her own mother, Mr Quills, and Mike. Probably, she should spend more time in the office, drinking coffee with them and bringing them biscuits to get to know them.

On a second thought, everybody there was so old and looked at her as if she was the last person with whom they wanted to talk, so she didn’t feel that guilty that she didn’t particularly care about getting to know them.

And after all, she would get to know them at the first party they organised.

She knocked on Mr Quills’ door, and waited patiently.

“Come in,” said his deep voice.

She pushed the door open and peeked inside.

“Ah, Potter, come in, come in,” he urged her, gesturing for her to sit on the chair across from his.

“You wanted to see me, Mr Quills?” she asked, noticing that he had forgone the ‘Miss’ before her surname and wondering if it was a good or a bad thing.

“Yes, sit, sit,” he replied. He grabbed the Daily Prophet. “Mike said that we started to print out your replies to the letters.”

She nodded and tried to smile, unsure if his tone was a complimenting or a reproaching one. “And some fake ones too,” she added in a whisper.

“Good,” he said distractedly. “My wife really liked your writing style,” he added. “Now, don’t let it go to your head, but she called it warm and polished.”

Lily felt her spine automatically straighten up as a bright smile tugged at her lips. “Did she?” she asked cheerfully.

Mr Quills narrowed his eyes. “That’s what she said,” he replied, “but don’t get too excited, you have to convince _me_ , not her.”

She nodded fervently. “Of course, Mr Quills,” she said. “I’m going to go and work on this letter here and on more fake ones, and I’ll churn out more warm and polished replies, and I promise that I won’t disappoint you, and before you even know I’ll make my way to the sports page and—”

“Yes, yes, yes,” he cut her off, waving a hand in front of her. “Off you go now. Go help people, or whatever it is you do.”

***

“And he said that his wife said that my style was warm and polished! A week after I started! He called me in his office to let me know! And I thought he was going to tell me that the fake letters were too fake, or the real ones were too stupid, but he said I was doing a good job instead! Well, okay, he didn’t exactly, but he said he was happy. Or he looked happy, I’m not sure…”

Lily’s mother was grinning at her, nodding at every single word she said and making approving sounds every now and then.

Lily looked at her and grinned even wider than she did. “Did you read it? Did you read the column, Mum?” she asked excitedly.

Her mother placed her fork and knife on her plate. “Of course, I did, Lily,” replied, “I went to Mike to ask him when he would start printing out your replies.”

“And? Did you like them? Did you think my style was warm and polished?” she asked anxiously.

Her mother cocked her head and smiled. “Aww, Lily, you care about what I think.”

“Of course I do, Mum,” she replied surprised. “The column needs to appeal to both youngsters and old people.”

Her mother’s grin faded away, and she quirked an eyebrow at her. “And I’m the old people,” she half-asked in a flat tone.

Lily nodded. “Well, you’re not a teenager anymore, are you?” she giggled. “So?”

Her mother went back to her Shepherd Pie. “Warm and polished,” she said a bit coldly. “The old people find it very appealing.”

Lily bit her bottom lip. “Alright, you’re middle aged…”

Her mother snorted before looking back up at her. “How’s Hugo?” she asked. “How’s my favourite teenager in the world?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Thanks Mum.”

“Well, I’m sure he wouldn’t call me old,” she almost snapped before taking a deep breath. “So? How’s he doing?”

“You saw him yesterday, Mum,” she said softly, “and you’re not old. Not to me. You’ll always be young to me.”

Her mother snorted again, unconvinced. “I didn’t quite manage to talk to him properly yesterday,” she replied calmly. “Too many people. Is he still spoiling you or after a week he’s started seeing the light?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “He keeps making me breakfast,” she replied, “but only because he wakes up before me, and it’s not like he has to do much, just lay out a bowl with a spoon and the box of cereals for me, or make some extra eggs and leave them in the frying pan.”

“He doesn’t have to do much?” she asked Lily surprised. “Would you do that for him?”

Lily raised her fork. “I wouldn’t,” she replied truthfully, “but hear me out before you start judging me. First, I’m a terrible cook and you know it, and second, I can’t function properly in the morning. I would most likely food poison him.”

Her mother considered her words carefully. “You’re right,” she replied. “Promise me you’ll never make him breakfast.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I can always learn,” she pointed out sourly. “But he wouldn’t let me get up early anyway; he knows that I need my beauty sleep.”

Her mother cocked an eyebrow. “Did he actually say that?” she asked.

“No, but he’s intelligent, he knows I do,” grinned Lily.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I think I’m in love with my best-friend. She’s awesome and pretty, and she likes snakes like me. She even punched a boy at school for me. I really want to kiss her, but my brother said that she probably likes girls, and that when you kiss a girl who likes girls your lips swell like a doughnut and you grow boobs._
> 
> _What should I do? I love her, but I don’t want boobs! I’m only 14! My mum said that if I keep on putting on weight, I’ll grow boobs anyway, but I don’t think it’s the same…_
> 
> _Help me, please, Miss Lavender!_
> 
> _I-Want-No-Boobs_

***

Lily closed her eyes behind her big, blue sunglasses and sighed. The breeze that came up from the sea was nice and warm on her skin; she burrowed her feet deep in the sand and shifted slightly on her beach towel.

She had spent a grand total of five minutes thinking about what to reply to _I-Want-No-Boobs_ , but all she could come up with was a list of bad words for the teenager’s brother. He reminded her slightly of her own brothers. Except, they hadn’t told her lies when she had kissed someone, but they had hung the boy upside down on a tree, causing the boy to cry in front of everybody and Lily to try to push Albus into the lake.

But, apart from that, nothing intelligent had come to her mind. She didn’t believe in racking her brains, though; she would rather wait for Hugo to be home that evening and present him the problem. He would work his magic and she would know what to write.

On top of that, she had to work on her tan. If she didn’t spend at least a few hours per week in the sun, she would become luminescent. And what better place to spend a few hours in the sun than Tinworth? With Shell Cottage right up the hill, where she could go when she was too hot and Auntie Fleur would feed her all sorts of delicious French pastries.

And with her cousin to chat with right beside her.

“Look Lily, Look!” exclaimed Victoire right at that moment.

Lily cracked one eye open just in time to see a tiny little foot pressed against the swell of Victoire’s pregnant belly.

“Oh wow,” she said, sitting up. “Was that…”

“A kick,” said Victoire with a grin, “a powerful one too.”

“Did it hurt?”

Victoire shook her head, her long, blonde hair sweeping down to her stomach. “Just a tad uncomfortable,” she replied, “but it’s cool to feel him move.”

Lily grinned too. “Did Teddy see it?”

She nodded. “He did,” she replied, “the first time he almost started crying.”

Lily giggled at that and Victoire joined her. “Worst part, we were here at Shell Cottage and my dad almost started crying too.” She shook her head. “Louis was gagging.”

Lily snorted at her cousin’s insensitivity and closed her eyes again, lying down once more on the towel. “I needed a bit of sun,” she sighed. “Hugo is almost as tanned as one of those models on Witch Weekly, and I look like a worm in comparison.”

There was a subtle giggle coming from Victoire and when Lily opened her eyes again to look at her, she found that her cousin was smiling. “What?”

“Oh nothing,” replied Victoire dismissively. “It’s just that I was talking to Dom last night.”

“And?” asked Lily, closing her eyes again.

“And we both agree that all that Quidditch is doing Hugo well, isn’t it?” she giggled like a teenager and Lily felt the urge to sit up again and look at her.

“What do you mean?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Victoire looked at her as if she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t noticed. “Well, he really _does_ look like one of those models on Witch Weekly,” she said. “Not just because of the tan. He’s putting on quite a bit of muscles.” She stopped and smiled. “And those dimples when he smiles are quite adorable, aren’t they?”

Lily brushed the sand from her feet and shrugged a shoulder. “He’s only been playing Quidditch for a week,” she reminded her. “I can’t really see that much of a difference.”

Victoire rubbed her hands over her stomach. “He hasn’t changed over a week,” she said. “We were thinking about last year when he was a wee teenager covered in pimples.”

Lily nodded softly. “Yeah, I guess he’s not bad looking now.” She tried to suppress a smile. She was happy that Victoire and Dominique thought that he was handsome too. Since that moment in the bathroom at the Burrow, she couldn’t stop thinking about Hugo. And every time her mind wandered in that direction, she couldn’t help feeling something in her stomach, like a fluttering of wings. And that was something that she knew she shouldn’t be feeling for Hugo. But if her other cousins could admit that he was good-looking, then she could do that too.

Victoire snorted. “Aren’t you lovely?” she deadpanned. “I’m sure he’s going to have to beat the girls off with a stick soon.” She looked at Lily, eyes shining with mischief. “Has he brought anybody home yet? Some pretty lady friend he had met at his Quidditch trainings?”

A feeling of dread suddenly brought Lily back to reality. Victoire was right, Hugo was handsome, and if they could say those things and they were his cousins, she could only imagine what the other girls would do. She thought about Claire at the Leaky Cauldron and about Marie at Quidditch trainings. And probably about all the other girls in the streets, in the shops, at parties…

“Lily?”

“Eh? What?” She blinked and looked at Victoire.

Victoire furrowed her brow a little. “Has he brought anybody home yet?”

Lily shook her head vehemently. “No, no,” she replied almost harshly, “of course he hasn’t.”

“Alright,” said Victoire, glancing at her. “Guess he’s a gentleman too.”

“Of course he is,” muttered Lily. She stood up from the towel. “I better go. I feel really warm already, wouldn’t want to burn.”

“You do look quite flushed,” she replied calmly. “Yes, I’ll stay here a bit longer.” She patted her stomach and smiled. “Can you tell my mum that I’m here?”

Lily nodded. She grabbed her flowery dress and donned it quickly, but her head was somewhere else as she made her way to Shell Cottage.

***

By the time she had finished her shower, Lily’s freckles had disappeared under a burn the colour of a lobster. She glared alternatively at her reflection and at the bottle of Madam Primpernelle’s Sun Cream that hadn’t screened her at all.

Oh Merlin! She could already anticipate Hugo’s laughter as he saw her that evening! And right when Victoire had pointed out just how handsome he was, making her feel very self-conscious of her own unhandsomeness.

She imagined people whispering at the next Sunday lunch, “Oh look, it’s the beauty and the beast. Guess who’s the beauty and who’s the beast?”

Or something similar.

She pouted at her reflection. Then grimaced. Then wrinkled her nose and snarled. Then sighed and finally walked away from the incriminating object. She made her way to the kitchen. Her mother had bought her lunch, but it was almost six and she was a bit peckish, after all after Victoire’s comments she had barely felt like grabbing a bite of Auntie Fleur’s madeleines.

She got the jug of milk from the fridge and a box of biscuits that she found in a cupboard, and opened the letter once more in front of her. Maybe if she focused on what to write to _I-Want-No-Boobs_ she could distract herself from those demoralising thoughts.

She stuffed her face with biscuits and then gobbled down some milk, just like her brothers used to do when they were hungry. Then she stared at the letter as if it held all the answers and all the questions of the universe, but nothing happened. Not a single lightbulb turned on in her brain.

“Oh Merlin!” she groaned, hiding her face in her arms.

“Rough day?” chuckled Hugo’s voice from door. “Nothing that biscuits and milk won’t be able to make it better, I bet.”

She glanced up at him and saw that he was smiling at her. His blue eyes seemed even bluer in contrast with his tan, and he really did have dimples when he smiled, and they really were adorable.

He furrowed his brow as he looked at her.

“Don’t look at me!” she almost screeched, hiding her face in her hands. “I’m hideous.”

He ignored her. “Is that my towel?” he asked.

She peered down at herself, and indeed that was his towel wrapped around her naked body. It was red and had little Golden Snitches flying about. “No,” she replied casually. “Don’t think so…”

He walked to the table and stretched a finger until he was pointing at her chest. She looked down and saw the name Hugo Weasley stitched in blue. “Damn it,” she muttered.

“My mum used to put my name everywhere when I was at Hogwarts,” he let her know with a smile.

She sighed and looked up at him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It was the only towel in the bathroom. I think mine is still in my room since last week.”

He nodded and snatched a biscuit from the box. “So you’ve been using mine for the past week?” he asked her calmly.

If possible, she felt her cheeks become even hotter. “Yes,” she replied. “I’m sorry, Hugo. But the good news is: I don’t have any skin disease!”

He furrowed his brow again, now looking at her face and completely forgetting about the towel. “What happened to you?” he asked.

She placed her cool palms on her cheeks. “I went to the beach with Victoire and got burned,” she sighed. “I’m too pale; I should probably apply to become one of Hogwarts resident ghosts.”

“I think that one of the requirements for that would be that you’re dead,” he chuckled.

She glared at him. “Are you telling me that I wouldn’t even make a decent ghost?” she asked.

“You make a more than decent journalist, isn’t that enough?” He smiled.

She capitulated and smiled back at him. “Yeah, I do,” she replied. “Mr Quills called me in his office this morning and told me that my style was warm and polished! He complimented me!”

Hugo’s smile changed into a grin. “That’s fantastic, Lily,” he congratulated her. He raised his hand over the table and she high fived him, grabbing the towel with the other hand to keep it up.

“Well,” she added, smiling softly, “it’s also thanks to you, you know…”

He waved a hand dismissively. “You’re the one who writes them, I just give you ideas. Hey, I’ve got an after-sun lotion that my mum gave me,” he added. “It’s miraculous; the redness goes away after a few hours.” He smiled as he snatched another biscuits. “Would you like some?”

“Of course I do!” she exclaimed before fluttering her eyelashes and adding, “Pretty please, Hugo.”

***

Lily was pleasantly surprised when Hugo looked even angrier than she felt about _I-Want-No-Boobs_ ’ letter. She looked at him expectantly, trying, in the meantime, to clean the ketchup from the piece of parchment where she was going to take notes.

“This poor boy!” he snapped, re-reading the letter for the umpteenth time. “I can’t believe his brother!”

Lily nodded. “Sounds like Al and James, doesn’t he?” she said. “Same amount of meanness.”

Hugo looked at her. “Yes,” he replied forcefully. “They scared me too when I told them that I wanted to kiss a girl for the first time.”

Lily looked up from the stain of ketchup and crossed her legs on the kitchen chair. “They did?” she asked. “Why on earth did you tell them that you wanted to kiss someone?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I looked up to them.”

“Well, you could have told me,” she replied nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t have said… what did they say to you?”

“I didn’t want to talk to a girl,” he said, blushing, “and you gave your first kiss when we were in our fifth year. I was thirteen at that time.”

Lily snorted. “So precocious. Who was the lucky gal?”

“Amelia Friend,” he replied. “I know that many people thought that she was a bit weird, but I liked her.”

Lily tried to suppress a giggle. She thought that Amelia was weird even now, what with her love for Divination and her dreadlocks. “And? Did you kiss her?”

“No!” replied Hugo. “Your brothers told me that she was a Seer, and Seers turn all the guys that they kiss into frogs! They said that that was why Professor Trelawney had never married.”

“And you fell for that?” she laughed.

Hugo glared at her. “I was thirteen, I had no clue what to do and I was scared to death even before they told me that,” he said sourly. “I had to wait a year before I even could think about kissing someone else.”

Lily smiled at him. “And who did you kiss?” she asked. “Oh, wait! I know! It was Danielle Lynch, wasn’t it?”

He nodded rather reluctantly. “Yes,” he replied, “and it was less than fantastic. I kissed her and she said that she liked someone else and started crying straight away.”

Lily tried to force out a supportive sound, but she really just wanted to giggle. It wasn’t a giggle to make fun of his misadventures, she wasn’t that mean, it was a giggle of relief that he was that unfortunate with girls. She shook her head a little, that was definitely equally mean.

“Stop laughing,” he said.

“I’m not!” she protested, her giggle finally bubbling over her lips.

“You are, in here.” He stretched a hand and tapped his finger gently on her forehead. “How was your first kiss, then? Ridiculously perfect?”

“Ah, of course,” she replied. “There were violins, fireworks and a starry night.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you having me on?”

She laughed and leant back against her chair. “Yes,” she replied. “It was kind of horrible, he tasted of garlic and he tried to put his hand under my school robes.”

Hugo stiffened slightly. “Who was your first kiss again?” he asked softly.

She grinned at him. “Why? Isn’t it a bit late to try to avenge the honour of your female relative?” She brushed some breadcrumbs from her legs. “And I took care of him anyway. I hexed him.”

She glanced up at him and noticed that he was looking back at her admiringly. She smiled and tapped her fingers on the letter. “Any ideas on how to reply to the poor _I-Want-No-Boobs_?”

He blinked and looked at the letter. “Yes, sorry.” He cleared his throat and went on, “First of all, you have to tell him that if he kisses a girl who likes girls he’s not going to grow any female bits.”

“That’s for sure,” murmured Lily as she wrote.

“Second, he can’t just go and kiss her, though,” he continued. “He has to first tell her that he likes her. Maybe he can invite her to his house—hem, no, better if he doesn’t, what with that brother of his…”

“Maybe they can meet in Diagon Alley,” suggested Lily, “or up in Hogsmeade.”

He nodded. “Great idea,” he replied, “and then he has to tell her how he feels. I don’t think it’d be wise to ask her if she’s a lesbian, though… she might not take it in the right way.”

“Definitely,” giggled Lily.

“Ultimately though, you have to remind him that what really matters is what she wants and not what he wants. I mean, there’s no danger in kissing this girl, whether she likes boys or girls, but the choice is hers, he can’t just go and grab her because he likes her.”

She glanced up at him and smiled. “Yeah, Hugo, he sounds like a shy fourteen-year-old boy, I’m sure he’s not going to grab her and kiss her without a lot of flushing and stammering first,” she reminded him.

“Well, just in case someone else who is not a shy fourteen-year-old reads your reply, they should know that they can’t just kiss girls because they like them, that the girl has to give her consent,” he pointed out.

Lily looked at him and nodded. “I will,” she said, beaming.

“What?” he asked a bit taken aback when she kept grinning madly at him.

She shook her head. “Nothing, it’s just that you’re such a gentleman,” she grinned, “when I have kids I’ll ask Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron to raise them for me, so that they can turn up like you did.”

He blushed such a dark shade of red that it was visible even behind his tan. “Shut up,” he muttered, waving a hand, “you’re embarrassing me.” He faked a growl and added, “And I can be a bad boy, if I want to.” He snatched her quill and kept it over her head. “Ah-a! I got your quill!”

She burst into laughter at his poor attempt of being a bad boy, and he pouted for exactly five seconds before he joined her.

***

The following morning there was another letter waiting for her. She brought the one from _I-Want-No-Boobs_ to Mike, with her reply, and dumped a pile of fake ones into the basket too.

Mr Quills didn’t call her into his office to compliment her again, but some more people nodded at her in the corridors. She nodded back and smiled and some of them even said hi. She wondered if they knew her name. She wondered if her mother went around the office and told everybody that her daughter worked there, too. She had seen some of them already, but she had never officially met them.

Lily started when a hand closed around her arm to steady her after the impact with the solid body in front of her. “Oh! I’m so sorry, Miss.”

She blinked and looked up at the worried face of a man who definitely wasn’t as old as the other journalists there. He was probably twenty. Twenty-five tops.

“Are you okay?” he asked, letting her arm go. “I’m afraid I didn’t see you there.” He smiled apologetically, and Lily smiled back almost mechanically.

“It’s alright,” she replied, “it happens a lot usually.” She raised her hand on top of her head and showed him that she barely reached his biceps. “My brothers pretend not to see me every time I walk into a room.”

He chuckled and smiled again. “I’m Derek,” he said, “Derek Quills. I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure yet.”

“Lily, Lily Luna Potter,” she said, stretching her hand to shake his. “But you can forego the Luna and the Potter.” She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. “Do you know that you share your surname with our chief editor?”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when he’s your father,” he sighed. “I swear I’m not as boring and as dull as he is.” He winked again and finally let her hand go.

Her jaw dropped in a very unflattering way. “Oh, I… I didn’t know he had a son… nor that he—you worked here,” she murmured.

“He doesn’t like to flaunt that,” he chuckled, “since I’m not a journalist.”

She furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m the cartoonist, the one who draws those little comic strips before the pages with the games,” he replied. “Not a job as noble as being a journalist, according to my father.”

“Oh, I love those,” she hurried to say. “I loved the one about Harry Potter the other day. Hugo and I laughed for a good twenty minutes.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you,” he said, “and I’m glad it didn’t offend you, since I do believe that Harry Potter is your father, am I correct?”

“Yeah,” she replied, tugging a lock of hair behind her ear. “It didn’t offend me.”

“Good to hear,” he said. “I’m afraid I have to go, now. I have some useless things to draw, as my father would say.”

She smiled reassuringly. “They’re not useless,” she assured him. “They make people’s lives a bit brighter.”

“You’re very sweet.” He smiled back at her. “I’ll see you around here.” There was a pause then he added, “I hope.”

“I hope too,” she said without thinking.

He brushed his sandy hair away from his face and waved as he walked past her and she stood there, just plain happy to have found someone who was born in the same millennium as herself at the Prophet.

***

Lily leant back against Hugo’s legs. “I met someone who is not as decrepit as all the other journalists at the paper today,” she said as she copied the letter that she had received that morning – a girl complaining about her too fair complexion – on a new piece of parchment, with her reply – ah! Didn’t she and Hugo know the problem! She added the name of Hugo’s after sun lotion at the bottom.

“Does your mother know that you call her decrepit?” he asked, looking down at her as she looked up at him.

“Yeah, kind of,” she replied, “wasn’t too happy when I called her ‘old’ the other day…”

“I wonder why,” he deadpanned. “Who was this someone? Anybody I know?”

She shook her head and went back to her letter. “Don’t think so,” she replied. “Mr Quills’ son. He’s not a journalist though, he’s a cartoonist. He’s the one who draws those comic strips before the game page. Exciting, isn’t it?”

“Exciting,” replied Hugo. “He’s good and I like his humour. His cartoons are not too mean-spirited.”

“And he looked nice too,” said Lily thoughtfully.

Hugo’s legs shifted a little behind her back. “Yeah?” he asked, voice a bit more detached than before, as if he was losing interest in the subject. “Where did you meet him?”

“Oh, I bumped into him in the corridor,” she said nonchalantly. “Or he bumped into me. He said he didn’t see me.” She glanced up with a smile, waiting for a bit of bantering about her height, but it never came.

“Hugo?” She elbowed him gently in his knee.

He blinked and looked down at her. “Yeah?”

“You okay? You look thoughtful.”

“Yeah,” he said for the third time. “I’m okay, I just think I’m going to turn in.”

“But it’s only nine,” she pointed out, as he slid his legs from behind her and stood up.

“I know,” he replied calmly, “but I wake up early, remember? I’m a bit tired.”

She felt a pang of guilt about her laid-back job. “Okay,” she replied as she leant back against the couch. “Good night.”

“Night,” he said distractedly, as he disappeared into the corridor.


	5. Chapter 5

***

The coffee was sweet and the piece of cake was covered in chocolate crumbles; Rose hadn’t shut up since the moment they had sat in the Leaky Cauldron, and Lily had tried to follow the string of her cousin’s thoughts for half-an-hour now. Rose had gone from talking about her birthday party, to Lucy’s boyfriend, to Victoire’s pregnancy, to Hugo’s trainings, and finally to Lily’s job, without even taking a pause between one subject and the other.

“I want to know everything about this Derek,” she grinned. “Every single thing.”

Lily’s fork froze in mid-air, she couldn’t remember mentioning Mr Quills’ son to her, nor to anybody at all except for Hugo, really. “How do you know?” she asked, a bit taken aback.

Rose’s eyes brightened up. “Oh, what’s there to know? Is there something to know? What happened? Tell me everything.”

Lily put the cake back down. “There’s nothing to know,” she hurried to say, “honestly, nothing. We literally bumped into each other and introduced ourselves. That is every single thing that there is to know.” She stopped and furrowed her brow. “How do you know I met him?”

“Your mum told my mum who told me,” she told her.

“My mum?” Nope, she didn’t remember telling her either.

Rose’s grin became even wider. “Apparently, he went to talk to your mum after this ‘encounter’.” For some reason that Lily could not understand, she signed the word between inverted commas near her face. “And he asked her everything about you.”

“He did what?” asked Lily, almost choking on the coffee. “Why?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Because he thinks you’re hideous and he hates you, Lils,” she replied with a snort. “Why do you think? He fancies you!”

Lily felt her cheeks burning. “And he went to ask Mum about me?” she wailed. “Oh Merlin!”

Rose giggled. “I can only imagine what she said to him.” She cleared her throat and tried to imitate Lily’s mother. Lily had to admit that she did a pretty good job. “My beautiful daughter loves to eat and she loves Quidditch. If you want to make an impression, you should take her to a Quidditch game and buy her fish and chips, the one with lots of tartar sauce that gets all messy…” She chortled with laughter and Lily looked at her horrified. She was sure her mother had really said that.

“But I don’t want to go on a date with him!” she exclaimed way too loudly. Claire, the waitress, glared at her from the counter.

Rose narrowed her eyes a little. “Why? Is he ugly?” she asked softly.

“No, no, he was… he’s normal, I guess.” She tried to remember his face, he hadn’t really made an impression on her, he was tall and had a cute smile, but that was pretty much all.

“And you’d rather have the Witch Weekly model kind of guy,” giggled Rose, winking.

At that, she had to push Victoire’s words at the back of her mind, but no matter how hard she tried, Hugo’s face bubbled up amongst her thoughts. She smiled involuntarily at him smiling at her.

“Alright, who’s the guy then?” asked Rose, folding her arms across her chest.

Lily blinked, taken aback. “What guy?”

Rose took a deep breath. “The one you’re smiling at in your head,” she replied gently. “I’ve been there; I couldn’t stop thinking about Scorpius before we got together, and I kept smiling dumbly all the time and at the worst of times.”

Lily pouted slightly at the word “dumbly”, then she grabbed her fork and pushed the cake in her mouth. “There’s no guy,” she replied, chewing ungracefully. “I’m just too busy with my new job, that’s all. I don’t have time for guys.”

Rose sighed. “What about my brother?”

Lily felt her heart skip a beat. “Especially your brother,” she almost snapped nervously. “Honestly, that’s… that’s ridiculous. Hugo! He’s… like… Hugo!”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up high on her forehead. “I meant if he had anybody,” she murmured slowly. “Like a girlfriend or someone he likes.”

“Oh,” was all Lily could let out. She didn’t know what colour she was turning now, but probably she was going to burst into flames any time soon. Her face was at least. “No, I… I don’t think he has a girlfriend. Well, I… I don’t know.”

Rose nodded slowly, but after that, the conversation was so awkward that Lily had to make up an excuse to leave before she even finished her coffee.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I love my flatmate. I seriously do. She’s awesome and fun and we have a great time together. She has a tiny, minuscule flaw though… her boyfriend. He keeps coming in at all times of day and night, he eats food from the fridge (my food!), and he leaves the bathroom in the worst of state when all it’d take would be a Drying Spell. He’s fun and nice and he seems to love her and she loves him back, but if he keeps messing up our flat like that I’m going to Avada him in his sleep. Tell me what to do to avoid becoming a murderer (or what to do to avoid Azkaban after I become a murderer)._
> 
> _Miss Perfect_

***

Lily wrapped herself in her own towel and felt particularly proud of that turn of events. She had actually picked it up from the wet pile in her room, washed it carefully – since it was starting to send off a weird smell –, and had dried it, and now she was using it instead of using Hugo’s. She felt very grown up and just a plain fantastic flatmate.

She slid her palm over the fogged up mirror and looked at her reflection. Her face was a nice, light brown colour, thanks to Aunt Hermione’s miraculous after-sun lotion, and her freckles seemed to stand out even more insistently than usual.

She smiled at herself, fluttering her eyelashes, then locked her arms together on her stomach, trying to push her breasts up a little. They were so small, why were they so small?

She sighed and collected all her hair in her hands and pulled it over her head. She shrugged her other shoulder and puckered her lips like all those girls did in Al and James’ magazines.

Why had Derek gone to talk to her mother? Merlin! She certainly didn’t need a boyfriend! She wanted to focus on her silly job, she didn’t want a distraction. Even though he sounded like a fun guy. Probably he was an artist. Like her mother’s friend, Dean Thomas. He was a fun guy too, even if Uncle Ron and her dad called him a womaniser when they thought nobody could hear them.

Lily’s stomach grumbled and she wondered what they were going to have for dinner. She was momentarily horrified at the thought that if she had had a boyfriend she would have been expected to cook for him. Well, at least she was sure he would leave her before he even introduced her to his parents.

“What?” she said out loud, staring at her reflection. “What was I saying?”

***

“I’ll help you.”

Hugo turned to look at her and blinked. He didn’t reply. He was either too surprised to say anything, or he was wondering if it was some kind of joke, or maybe he was thinking what to say to make her desist.

Lily just smiled brightly at him. “I really want to help you, please,” she repeated. “I swear I’m not going to fry the potatoes instead of baking them, nor I’m going to spend the next five minutes begging for less vegetables and more beef.”

He blinked again. “I was about to make Chicken Tikka Masala, Lily.”

“And there’s no beef in there, is there?” she asked suspiciously.

“No, there’s… there’s chicken,” he replied. “Nor there are potatoes. There’s rice and maybe some fruit to muffle the hotness of the spices.”

She grinned. “Well, I love Chinese food,” she replied, rolling back her white sleeves. “What can I do?”

“It’s Indian food,” he said calmly. “And you… you can… you can dice the pineapple and the tomato and… and grate some coconut?”

She nodded, feeling relieved that there was something that didn’t actually require specific cooking skills. She was able to assemble a fruit salad, after all, she just never did it because… Ew! “Fruit” and “salad”. Way too healthy.

“Here,” he said, placing a chopping board that she didn’t even know they owned and a knife near the fruits he had prepared.

“How big?” she asked, grasping the knife and positioning a tomato on the chopping board.

“Small, like this.” He came to stand behind her and placed his hands gently over hers, raising the knife and keeping the tomato still. He cut through it with a single movement that caused a neatly cut up slice to fall on the board. He moved her hand to it and kept the slice still as he diced it expertly. “Like this,” he repeated, smiling.

She smiled up at him too, but when he didn’t move his hands from hers she giggled. “I swear I can do it,” she assured him. “Give me a chance.”

He didn’t seem to understand what she meant straight away, but when he did he hastily let her go and turned away. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I’m sure you’ll do a great job.” He started to cut up the chicken into smaller pieces. “Why are you helping me again?”

She looked at his back as he chopped the chicken and prepared the spices. “Because I love you and I want to spend all my time with you,” she replied with a grin that she hoped he could hear in her voice.

He stopped and she could see the muscles of his back stiffen slightly under his t-shirt. She waited for a sarcastic comment, but it never came.

“Oh alright,” she sighed. “I was thinking that I should probably learn how to cook at some point of my life, shouldn’t I? Or I’ll never find a boyfriend; they’ll all run away after I’ve poisoned them.” She paused and sighed, “If I haven’t poisoned them to death, naturally.”

“So you want to impress a guy,” asked Hugo, going back to chop the chicken with renewed force.

“Not one in particular,” she replied nonchalantly, not wanting to share what Rose had told her earlier. “I just want to be prepared. I’m sure not all guys are like you.”

He finally turned to look at her. “Like me?” he asked softly.

She nodded and went back to her tomato, which she hadn’t even started to slice since he had let her hands go. “Yeah,” she replied softly.

“Why? How am I?”

“You know,” she muttered, focusing on the fruit. “You’re you. You’re Hugo. You’re… good.”

He walked to the table and placed his hands near her, bending a bit. “Good?” he asked softly.

“Yeah,” she replied before looking up at him. “Listen, are you fishing for compliments?”

“What?” he asked, taken aback. “No, I… just wanted to understand what you meant.”

She rolled her eyes, suddenly irritated with him. “You know what I mean,” she said. “You cook for me, you help me out with my job after you’ve come home from your own job, you are patient beyond reason with me, you’re always cheerful and kind and nice.” She flushed and went back to her tomato, which was probably the same colour of her face now. “I’m sure that not all guys are like you. Actually, I’m sure nobody is like you, so that’s why I need to learn how to cook.”

“Sorry,” he murmured before going back to the chicken.

She wasn’t sure why he had apologised to her, but she felt the urge to apologise, too, and then they both sank into an awkward silence not unlike the one that had enveloped her and Rose earlier that day.

***

Lily had double servings of everything that Hugo had placed on the table. The Chicken Tikka Masala, the white Basmati rice, and the fruits that she had diced.

He praised her dicing skills for a good five minutes, until she punched his arm and told him to shut up. Everything seemed back to normal then, and Lily didn’t feel guilty at drawing out the letter and pushing it towards him.

“I’m sure you’re going to be ace at replying to this,” she grinned. “I mean, it’s basically _you_ writing.”

He looked at her. “Oh, is it some guy being too awesome for his own good?”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “No,” she replied, “it’s a girl starting to get tired of her flatmate’s messy boyfriend. It’s basically you talking about me.” She grabbed her quill and a piece of parchment. “So, go on, tell me your secret so that I can tell her your secret.”

Hugo chuckled and shook his head, and then he started reading the letter with his usual focused expression that announced a nice, articulated reply coming soon. She studied his face and got ready to smile encouragingly when he would look up at her.

“Oh, I see,” he said, finally meeting her eyes.

“You do?” she asked cheerfully. “I knew _Miss Perfect_ would speak to you.”

“Oh, yeah, I already like her,” he joked, winking. “And I think she’s right to be mad if her flatmate’s boyfriend is that messy and disregards her feelings like that.”

Lily nodded forcefully. “Exactly!” she agreed, even when she was the messiest person she knew.

“The tricky part is that she seems to be friends with this boyfriend, and with her flatmate, so obviously she doesn’t want to offend them or have a quarrel with them.”

“Obviously,” repeated Lily, nodding again.

“But she has to say something, otherwise she’s going to end up saying something that she’s going to regret,” he went on.

“Yep,” she agreed for the third time.

Hugo looked at her. “I think that communication is key, here,” he said. “She has to be polite and calm and serene when she talks to them, but she has to talk to them. Them both, I’d say. She needs to let them know how she feels about the boyfriend’s behaviour and how hurt she is because of his disregard of the flat that she shares with the girlfriend.”

Lily wrote down each and every single word.

“I’d avoid mentioning Azkaban and the murder,” he added. “And if the calm and serene talk doesn’t bring the desired effect, she should start writing her name on the food in her fridge, ward the flat at night so that he can’t Apparate or use the Floo from a certain time to another. And…”

“Ward the bathroom, too?” asked Lily, furrowing her brow.

He chuckled. “That or she could use a spell that won’t let the door open until the floor is dry,” he suggested. “My mum uses it all the time at home with my dad. I can give you the incantation if you want.”

Lily didn’t look up. She always left the bathroom in such a state; she would be locked in there forever if Hugo started to implement it on their bathroom.

“These are brilliant suggestions,” she murmured, glancing at him before looking away quickly. “Thank you, Hugo…”

“But?” he said, probably sensing that a ‘but’ was definitely coming.

She tortured her bottom lip, feeling suddenly unsure about how to say it. “But you don’t believe I’m too messy, do you?” she asked quickly. She looked up at him and raised both hands to stop him. “Wait! That implies that I want you to say that I’m not messy.” She took a deep breath and rephrased, “Do you think I’m messy?”

He looked at her, probably torn between lying and hurting her feelings.

She smiled shyly. “Remember, communication is key, here,” she whispered.

He nodded and said, “I think you are messy, Lily, but it doesn’t bother me one bit.”

“Oh,” she said. That was a good answer, the best one he could give. She was messy, so he was being sincere, and it didn’t bother him, so he was being sweet and reassuring at the same time. “Really?” she asked suspiciously. “Wouldn’t you prefer if I were as tidy as you are? Or just a tinsy bit less messy?”

He shook his head. “Then we would be a couple of boring, young people, spending all their time cleaning and tidying up,” he replied cheerfully. “And what about you? Does it bother you that I’m that tidy?”

She snorted. “Oh yes, it was really getting on my nerves, I didn’t want to say anything, but Merlin, if you could start leaving your dirty socks around, I’d be forever grateful.”

“Ha. Ha,” he deadpanned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

She burst into laughter and then stood up to clear the table. They did the dishes together and, predictably, the evening ended up with a soapy water fight.

***

For the rest of the week, Lily found two letters a day in Lavender’s office. Nothing too difficult to reply to, but she still didn’t seem to function properly without Hugo’s guidance. Probably she would have functioned properly if she had tried, but it was so nice to listen to Hugo being that wise and caring and intelligent when he helped her out, that she just looked forward to those evenings they spent together resolving other people’s problems.

She spent Wednesday afternoon at the beach again – this time with a proper sun cream she got from Hugo –, Thursday, she went shopping with Roxanne and, on Friday morning, – after she was reminded by Hugo that she had the whole weekend to reply to the letters – she decided that that afternoon, she would Apparate to River Piddle to watch his trainings. He always told her she should and she was looking forward to doing so.

At about two, she changed into actual clothes – as opposite to the sarong she had tightened about her body since she had gotten back from the newsroom. She crumpled up the empty bag of chips that she had just finished and Vanished it not to let Hugo see what she had had for lunch. She finally walked out of her flat and locked the door at her back. She stopped only when she was down in the hall and stared out of the door and at a very sunny and probably extremely hot Diagon Alley.

She looked down at her outfit. The lacy white top would keep her cool; her leather bag was filled with sun cream, water bottles, and even an enchanted fan; her big, blue sunglasses were temporarily keeping her hair away from her face, and her feet were feeling nice and cool in her sandals. She furrowed her brow at her shorts. They were _really_ short, and she had no clue how the terraces in River Piddle would be. Were they going to be right in the sun? Was she going to scorch her thighs? Would her skin melt and get stuck to the terraces?

She considered going back to change, but she loved those shorts and she rarely wore them, since her father always looked at them disapprovingly. Oh screw it! She would cast her thighs under a Cooling Charm or something if she was in pain.

She pushed her glasses down on her freckled nose and made her way out into the street. It was really hot and she had to fan herself straight away. She reached the Apparition point and stood there, trying to visualise the place where to Apparate. She had never been there, but Hugo had told her everything about it, so she pretty much knew where to pop up.

She focused on the green fields and the grey wall of the stadium. Then she felt the familiar tugging behind her navel and soon she was stretching her hand to find leverage on the wall of the stadium, gasping a bit for air after the trip.

The air in Dorset was slightly less stifling than in London, but it was hot nonetheless. She walked around the tall wall of the stadium, knowing that she would come across a door eventually. She did so after ten minutes. The stadium was immense, and she could hear the loud bangs of Bludgers being hit by the Beaters and screams coming from the players.

She walked through the open door that led to the terraces, but before she could go any further, she was stopped by a tall man wearing heavy Wizarding robes and sweating copiously in them.

“Pass?” he asked her raggedly.

Merlin! She had no pass. Of course, she should have imagined that not everybody was allowed to see the trainings of the top league team. She tried to smile and did her puppy eyes that usually got her away with everything. “I’m afraid I forgot it at home,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Then I’m afraid you can’t go past this point,” he grunted. “Only those in possession of a pass, relatives of the players and the press can enter.”

“But I am a relative,” she hurried to say, “and I’m with the press too! The Daily Prophet.”

He eyed her suspiciously as if he didn’t believe her. “Are you the mascot of the Daily Prophet?” he asked coldly.

“Hey!” she protested outraged. “I’m a journalist!”

He snorted. “And who would you be a relative of?” he asked her, folding his arms across his chest.

“Hugo Weasley,” she told him haughtily. “I’m his cousin on his father’s side.”

The man grunted something incomprehensible, and then disappeared through a door. When he reappeared, ten minutes later, a very smiley and very sweaty Hugo was at his side, broom in his hand.

“Lily!” he exclaimed when he saw her. “What are you doing here?”

She glanced at the man, with a triumphant, little smile on her lips before walking to Hugo. “I came to see you play,” she said. “I had a free afternoon and wanted to finally see where you work all day.”

He smiled brightly at her. “Come, I’ll walk you to the terraces,” he said, as he guided her through a door and into the bright sun of the open air again.

There were at least thirty people flying about in the air, some throwing the Quaffles through hoops, some hitting some Bludgers, some probably looking for the Snitches. Some others were simply flying around, shouting orders and observing the players.

He walked her up to the terraces and insisted she sat on the highest row, where the view was best. She sat on the very edge of the seat, because the terraces were scorching hot for real.

“Listen, when you’re tired, you just go, okay?” he said. “I mean, no need to stay in the sun for the whole afternoon.”

She waved a hand and smiled. “It’s fine, I’ll wait for you.”

His smile became even wider. “Wicked,” he murmured. “Have to go back now, but I’ll try to get out a bit earlier than usual, alright?”

“Hugo,” she sighed, “seriously. I’m excited to be here, I’ll watch you, I’ll tan, I’ll relax. Everything’s good.”

He smiled again and mounted his broom. “Awesome,” he said. He pushed his feet to the ground and took off. “I’ll see you in a bit.” He waved and sped up to get back into the game.

Lily cast herself under a Cooling Charm and sat back, watching the game as she spread herself with the sun cream. Hugo was playing as Beater, and he was a very good one indeed. She remembered how good he was at Hogwarts, but he seemed an even better player now. Or maybe it was because he was playing with more focused players than the ones that were part of the Gryffindor team.

She had to narrow her eyes when a figure flew in front of her and waved in her direction. She recognised the flashy smile and the blond hair of John McLaggen, whose momentarily distraction had allowed the other team to score and a stocky young man to scream at him. She smiled apologetically and waved back before glancing at Hugo who was giving her a thumbs-up, as if their scoring was thanks to her distracting the Keeper of the opposing team.

She gave him a thumbs-up back, but he was distracted by a girl with a pixie haircut and green eyes so big that Lily could make out the colour from the terraces. She flew next to him and high fived him, smiling and pirouetting around him.

He grinned at her and Lily stared with a weird feeling behind her navel as they talked and laughed. The girl was pretty and Hugo’s eyes shone bright as she flew around him. Or Lily imagined that they did, it was difficult to tell with the sun in her eyes.

Someone whistled and the game seemed to resume. Hugo waved at her every now and then, but Lily was staring at the pretty girl most of the time, now. She was good too, she was quick and she scored more than all the other Chasers on Hugo’s team. And every time she did score, she would fly around Hugo and either high five him, or bump her arm into his.

Lily narrowed her eyes. Honestly, was she there to fly or to flirt? She looked like she couldn’t care less about the trainings, all she cared about was to rub herself all over Hugo.

Suddenly, Lily wondered if the showers in the changing rooms were divided per gender, or if they were just a bunch of cubicles where boys and girls could walk around naked. She felt a weird sort of rage and disgust at the thought before remembering that Hugo always showered at home. She felt better then, and almost curious as to why he didn’t want to shower with the others. Surely he looked just as fit as the others. Maybe he was too fit, and didn’t want to embarrass them. She made a mental note to ask him.

She sat for hours under the sun, watching game after game unfold as the teams were shuffled and the players changed positions. Hugo played as Keeper and as Chaser, but didn’t get a chance as Seeker. He was good as Chaser, and was an outstanding Keeper.

The sun had already lowered on the horizon when another whistle was blown and the training was brought to an end. McLaggen flew to Hugo to tell him something and Hugo nodded at him, then they glanced at Lily and the pretty girl joined them as they made their way to her.

“Hey Potter,” grinned McLaggen, landing next to her. “You’re rocking that tan.”

She was pleasantly surprised by the compliment, for she had completely forgotten that she had sat in the sun for hours. Aunt Hermione’s sun cream was miraculous for real. “You too, McLaggen,” she said cheerfully, kissing his sweaty cheeks.

“Hey Lily,” said Hugo as he landed too. “This is Marie.” He gestured towards the girl. “Marie Moffatt, I think I told you about her.”

Of course, Lily should have known who she was. She tried to put on her warmest smile, hoping that it didn’t look too fake. “Of course,” she said, stretching a hand to shake hers. “You play really well.”

“Thank you,” said the girl, and she mastered a really sweet and really pretty smile despite having flown around for hours. “You’re Lily, right? Hugo keeps talking about you.”

Lily glanced at Hugo, who looked away with an embarrassed smile. “I bet he tells you how annoying and messy I am,” she said.

“Oh no,” said McLaggen. “He’s all ‘Lily did this, she’s so cool!’ or ‘Lily said that, she’s so funny!’.”

“Okay, shut up McLaggen, and I don’t do that all the time,” said Hugo, rolling his eyes as if McLaggen had just confessed Hugo’s biggest secret. “Anyway, Lily, you want to come to the pub with us? You get to meet the rest of the guys; they’re fun, I swear.”

Lily looked from Hugo to McLaggen to Marie, slightly taken aback. She hadn’t expected to be invited to the pub. She hadn’t expected to spend time with _the guys_. She wasn’t even dressed properly for a pub, she looked like she was ready for the beach. “Thank you for the invitation,” she said, trying to sound more nonchalant than what she felt, “but I’ve got work to do. Like lots of work. Lots. Lots…” She focused on McLaggen and Marie who wouldn’t see through her lies.

“Oh, okay,” said Marie, and she sounded genuinely sorry that she wasn’t coming.

“You sure, Potter?” asked McLaggen, cocking an eyebrow. “It’s Saturday tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I have a busy weekend; I’m sorry, maybe next time?”

“Next week,” said Marie with a smile. “I’ll count on that.”

Lily smiled back and stared as she and McLaggen mounted their brooms and flew down to the pitch, stubbornly keeping her eyes away from Hugo.

“Lily,” he called her with a sigh.

“Really busy,” she said, pushing her sunglasses up to keep her hair away from her face. “I’m not even joking; I’ve got two letters this morning.”

He went to stand in front of her, until she had to raise her eyes and look at him. “It would mean the world to me if you came to the pub with us,” he whispered gently, “the world.”

She thought of Marie, probably looking dashing in a dress, while Lily’s face was covered in sun cream and she felt like she was sweating like a pig.

“Really busy,” she repeated in a whisper.

“I promise I’ll spend the whole weekend helping you,” he said. “I’ll write the replies for you, if you’re too tired.”

She bit her bottom lip, thinking about Marie flirting obscenely with Hugo in the pub while she had to sit next to McLaggen and listen to all his boasting.

“Pretty please,” added Hugo.

She let out a frustrated whine. “I’m not dressed for the pub,” she muttered. “People will laugh at me.”

“You look brilliant,” he assured her, and he sounded so genuine that for a moment she really believed him. “And the pub is dark; nobody will even notice your clothes.”

She shifted her weight from a foot to the other. “I don’t know anybody, Hugo.”

“I’ll introduce you to everybody, and I’ll stay with you all night,” he assured her. “You won’t get bored, I promise.”

She tried to look for another excuse, but nothing came to mind.

“Please, Lily,” he pleaded.

She looked at him and sighed. “Okay,” she finally conceded. “You win.”

He smiled so brightly that she felt herself melt. “Great!” he exclaimed. “I’d hug you, but I’m sweaty and smelly, so how about I’ll go and take a shower and meet you at the door? I promise you’ll have fun.”

She gave him two thumbs-up and smiled what she hoped was an enthusiastic smile. He grinned again and jumped on his broom, hurrying to the changing rooms as she started her descent towards the door of the stadium.

***

To Lily’s dismay, Hugo really introduced her to everybody; everybody really was great fun; and Marie was probably the nicest girl she had ever met.

Marie talked to everybody, she listened to what everybody said, and she seemed to be great friends with everybody. She even linked arms with Lily and started chatting with her about the woes of being one of the only three girls on the team.

Lily waited patiently for the moment when she started to ask about Hugo and what he liked in a girl, and what he liked to eat, and what music he liked, but that moment never came. Marie seemed genuinely interested in Lily and she found herself liking her straight away.

They all ordered generous portions of the most fatty food they could find on the menu of one of the only four Wizarding pubs in River Piddle, and Lily felt as if she was fitting right in with the crowd with her bangers and mash and her pint of Butterbeer.

At the table, she was squished between Hugo and Marie, and most of the time she listened to Hugo and McLaggen’s bantering, or to McLaggen’s blabbering about how good he was at everything he did.  

“Not much has changed since school,” whispered Hugo in her ear.

She turned to look at him and grinned. “Nope,” she replied, sipping her Butterbeer and licking the foam from her upper lip.

He grinned back, then stretched a hand towards her face and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you glad you came yet?” he asked her softly, his fingers lingering on her cheek.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah,” she replied, leaning a bit in his touch, “you were right, they are fun.”

“Lily! Lily, dance with me!” Marie stood and stretched a hand towards her, her cheeks red with a mix of alcohol, the sun, and the trainings.

Lily looked at the hand and then at her face. “I’m really bad, Marie,” she admitted, “really, really. Your toes would be in great danger.”

Marie laughed as if that was a joke, and she grabbed Lily’s wrist. “Come on,” she encouraged her, pulling her to her feet, “I’ll lead.” She laughed all the way to the space where people were dancing and Lily laughed too, infected by Marie’s cheerfulness. She stood in front of Lily and grabbed her hands, dragging her into a dance that would have probably worked really well in an African village where they were trying to summon the rain. They didn’t care, the pub was so crowded and the music so loud, that nothing mattered but the fact that they were having fun.

The music changed and became slower, and Marie smiled as she slowed down her movements too. Lily smiled back, completely entranced by the girl’s spontaneity.

“I love your hair,” said Marie, gliding her fingers down in Lily’s locks to her waist. “I’d pay to have hair like this.”

“Yours is surely more practical,” she hurried to reply. “And it suits you very well, not everybody can wear a pixie cut that well.”

Marie smiled brightly, she opened her mouth, probably to thank her, but a hand closed on Lily’s waist and she was pulled back none too gently and against a much taller body. “Potter, dance with me,” slurred McLaggen.

She looked up at him and saw that he was smiling sluggishly. “I was already dancing with Marie,” she pointed out. “And I have a feeling you’d throw up on me if we danced.” She wrinkled her nose at him.

“No, no, I swear I won’t,” he replied.

She glanced at Marie, but the girl was already dancing with someone else amongst the crowd. McLaggen didn’t last long, though, he turned a couple of times and ended up on a table, where he decided to stay and fall asleep.

Lily sighed, but was whisked away by Marie another time, and then found herself dancing in a crooked circle with Hugo and some of his friends.

She didn’t know what time it was when they walked out of the pub, but the stars were already fading away, and Hugo held her tight in his arms as he Disapparated them both back to their flat.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's start to make good use of those tags, shall we? ;) (In case it wasn't clear, this means sexy-times ahead..) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, my wonderful readers!

***

When Lily woke up on Saturday morning, it definitely wasn’t morning anymore. She wasn’t even sure if it was Saturday either. She wasn’t tired, she wasn’t even sleepy, and she knew that when she had crashed on her bed, the sun had been already up in the sky. That meant only one thing: she had slept through the weekend. That was the only reason why she wasn’t tired, because she was usually tired even after a ten-hour-sleep, so if she wasn’t tired, she must have slept at least forty-eight hours.

That or she had just slept very well and very peacefully.

She stretched her arms over her head and took a deep breath. Then another one and another one. “Hmm,” she breathed as the delicious aroma of eggs and bacon, sausages, warm toast, and roasted potatoes waffled into her room. “Breakfast.”

She pushed the sheets back, hurried to the bathroom, and finally made her way to the kitchen.

Hugo was there, standing near the counter and working on three pans at the same time. He was wearing only his shorts, as if to challenge the fizzling bacon to burn him, his curly hair was more ruffled than usual.

“Morning,” announced Lily brightly as she walked in there and went to stand next to him. “Or afternoon, or evening.”

He grinned down at her. “Afternoon,” he replied. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” she admitted, stretching a hand to bravely snatch a strip of crunchy bacon from the pan.

“Hey!”

She giggled and tossed it in her mouth before turning towards the table and setting it with a flick of her wand. Then she sat at her chair and waited.

Five minutes later, Hugo dished the cooked breakfast on two plates and placed one in front of Lily as he sat opposite to her. He looked at her and grinned so brightly that she couldn’t help smiling back. “Thank you for breakfast,” she said.

He didn’t even acknowledged her thanks. “So, did you have fun last night?” he asked instead.

She started cutting through the bacon, scooping up a generous portion of eggs before bringing them to her mouth. “I did,” she replied as she chewed. “You were right, your friends are fun. Even Marie. No, no, _especially_ Marie.”

He grinned as he dug in his breakfast as well. “She is, right? And McLaggen didn’t… you know… he didn’t put his hands where he shouldn’t have, did he?” he tried to sound casual, but there was a subtle edginess to his voice.

“No,” she replied amused by his protectiveness. “But he’s a lousy dancer, just so you know in case he starts to boast about his non-existent skills.”

Hugo grinned. “Oh I saw him,” he replied. “He was fun to watch.”

“Do they do that every Friday? Your friends I mean,” she asked, sipping some orange juice.

“This was only the second Friday that they’ve known each other,” he reminded her. “But they did it last Friday too apparently. And last Saturday, remember I asked you to go?”

She remembered. “And you didn’t go on Friday? Why?” She scooped up some baked beans with a piece of toast and bit into it.

Hugo shrugged a shoulder as he poked his scrambled eggs around. “I don’t know,” he replied softly. “I wasn’t inspired to go last week.”

She furrowed her brow, then something hit her and she felt guiltiness gnawing at the back of her mind. “It’s not because of me, right?” she asked. “Because you know that you don’t have any obligation towards me, right? I mean, if you want to go out with your friends, you can.” She swallowed and added, “Seriously.”

He looked at her, smiling almost apologetically. “I know,” he said. “I just don’t like to think that you’re home alone eating chips out of a bag and drinking milk out of the carton.”

She snorted at that. “Who tells you that I don’t look forward to the moment you’re not here to feed me healthy food?” she giggled. “And what do you know? Maybe I walk around naked when I’m home alone.”

“Well, then I need to stay in without telling you.” His laughter died away as soon as he realised what he had said. He lowered his eyes and hurriedly stuffed his mouth with sausages as he proceeded to blush.

Lily too felt her cheeks growing hot and she focused on the big, brown mushroom she had in her plate, cutting it up neatly into slices.

“Hey,” he croaked out after a long, awkward pause. “You said you needed help with the letters. What are they all about?”

She patted her forehead. “I almost forgot,” she said. “Thanks for reminding me.” She Summoned them with a wave of her wand and the two unopened envelopes flew into her outstretched hand. “I haven’t even read them yet. Shall I?”

He nodded. “Yeah,” he muttered, looking happy to be kept from talking.

She nodded and opened the first envelope, unfolding it neatly and placing it next to her plate. “ _Dear Lavender_ ,” she started reading, “ _My name is Michael and I’m four years old. My mummy is writing the letter for me, because I don’t know how to write yet. My mummy is nice, but she won’t let me get a Crup. And I want a Crup! I want one for my birthday next month! Please tell her that I need a Crup! I really do! Love, Michael._ ” She looked up at Hugo and smiled. “D’aww.”

Hugo chuckled and shook his head. “He’s cute,” he said. “And that’s not too difficult to reply to.”

Lily nodded. “Shall I read the other one, too, first?” she asked, already starting to open the letter.

“Yeah, then we can work on them both.” He sipped his English Breakfast tea and looked at her over the cup.

She nodded and unfolded the other letter too. It was neatly written on a parchment so white it looked like paper. “ _Dear Lavender_ ,” she started. “ _I have a very big and very embarrassing problem_.” She looked up and grinned. “Want to bet that it’s another big arse-related problem?”

Hugo grinned back and gestured for her to continue.

“ _My twentieth birthday is in three weeks and I have a problem with my boyfriend. He says he wants to give me a special present, and his idea of a special present is oral sex_.” She paused, but didn’t look up at Hugo. “ _I don’t feel comfortable with that notion, though. I mean, what if I smell? Or if he doesn’t like the way I taste? Or what if something embarrassing happens? What if I don’t like what he does? What if I’m too busy feeling embarrassed to actually feel any pleasure at all? He insists though, he said that he’s sure that I’m going to like it, and I don’t want to disappoint him, but I’m scared. What should I do? Is there anything I can do to prepare properly? Thank you for your time. Love, Scared Birthday Girl_.” She had read the letter in one go, feeling her cheeks growing hotter and hotter at all those questions. Bloody hell, she didn’t know anything about oral sex, how was she supposed to reply?

She placed the letter down and grabbed her glass of orange juice, and only then she noticed that Hugo hadn’t uttered a word since the moment she had stopped reading. He had promised to help her out with the letters, but probably that one was too embarrassing even for him.

She cleared her throat. “It was not a big arse related problem,” she said weakly.

When she looked at him, he was smiling awkwardly.

“Nope,” he replied softly. There was another long pause where it seemed as if both of them didn’t know what to say, until Hugo finally spoke again. “I suppose you should talk about your personal experience,” he whispered. “I mean… You know what I mean, right?”

She nodded and glanced at him before looking away. “Except,” she replied just as quietly as he did, “I don’t have any personal experience with oral sex.”

“Oh,” he replied, and she couldn’t help noticing the surprised tone. “You mean no one’s ever—”

“You know what I mean,” she cut him off. She looked at him and asked sharply, “Why? Have you ever gone down on a girl?”

He brought a hand to the back of his neck, scratching it nervously. “I’ve had two girlfriends, remember?” he asked back, as if that was enough of an answer.

She lowered her wide eyes to her plate. Knowing that Hugo had had oral sex with his ex-girlfriends was somehow embarrassing and nerve-wracking at the same time. She knew that he had had sex with both of them, but she imagined his sexual experiences were just as boring and as ordinary as Lily’s experiences had been. But oral sex didn’t sound boring to her. It sounded daring and exciting and dirty. And she shared all of _Scared Birthday Girl_ ’s worries about it.

She took a deep breath and grabbed her quill and a parchment. She didn’t look up at him. “Great, so how was it?” she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Beg your pardon?” asked Hugo, his voice a bit throaty.

“Well, I need something to write,” she said, starting to doodle on the parchment to keep herself from looking at him.

“You need something in the perspective of the girl,” he reminded her, tapping his finger on the letter, “not the guy.”

She looked at him. “Well, I told you I don’t have a perspective on the matter,” she replied curtly. “Lavender said that I should talk to people, if I don’t know something, do some research, experience stuff…” She felt her blush creeping higher on her face.

“Then go and talk to someone,” he said softly.

She glared at him. “I don’t want to!” she replied. “That’s so embarrassing, Hugo! Can you imagine? Me going to Rose and asking her about that time when Scorpius went down on her and—”

“Stop it, for Merlin’s beard!” he snapped. “That’s my sister you’re talking about!”

She folded her arms across her chest. “And I wouldn’t talk about it with her either,” she said, “or with anybody else. They’d want to know why I want to know, and since I can’t tell them why I need to know these things, they’ll think that I want to do it, and since they know that I don’t have a boyfriend, they’ll think I just want to go out and have a random guy going down on me!” She took a deep breath, feeling her cheeks even more on fire than before.

He swallowed. “Then go and talk to a Healer,” he suggested.

“What? No,” she hurried to reply, “that’s even worse, I… I would be mortified.” She glanced at the letter and added, “And she wants to know emotional stuff, not medical…” She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip until it hurt. When she looked up at him, Hugo was playing with a piece of egg in his plate. “Or,” she started unsurely, “I could experience it.”

He stopped playing with the egg, his fork making a really loud and really screechy sound. “What?” he asked, glancing up at her.

She tried to look cooler than she felt. “I… My mum said that Mr Quills’ son went to ask her about me, I… I could… I could ask for his help on the matter…” she murmured, her voice becoming softer and softer with every word she said, as if she knew perfectly well how ridiculous she sounded.

Hugo stared at her, stiff as a statue and suddenly very, very pale. “What?” he asked again. “You’d ask someone whom you talked to for five minutes in a corridor to… to do that to you?” He raised his hands in an astonished gesture. “This weekend?”

He was right, of course. There was the matter of the time, too. She had to bring the letter and the reply to the newspaper on Monday morning. She lowered her head and hid it in her hands. “No,” she whinged, “you’re right. I wouldn’t. God, what was I thinking?”

He didn’t reply, and for a long moment he didn’t move. Nor did she. They both sat there, Lily finding the coolness of the table soothing against her flushed cheek and Hugo probably thinking what else to suggest to her. Lily had finished all options, except naturally making up a reply or just tell _Scared Birthday Girl_ to put her foot down and tell her boyfriend that she didn’t want to do it.

Hugo shifted in his chair, pushing his hands a little against the table as if to stand up. He didn’t stand though, instead he cleared his throat. “I…” he started, and his voice sounded extremely throaty. “I could…”

Lily glanced up at him, eyes wide and filled with expectation.

He looked away from her, flushing. “Never mind,” he muttered, finally standing up and starting to clear the table.

“What? No, tell me,” she encouraged him. Was he going to suggest to talk to his ex-girlfriends? Just one would suffice probably.

He shook his head. “I was going to suggest something, but it’s rubbish, never mind me,” he told her, trying to inject some cheerfulness in his voice.

Lily stood up too, and went to him. She placed a hand on his arm and he stopped his movements. “What? Come on, tell me,” she said, as he swallowed loudly next to her. “It’s not like you were suggesting that— _oh my God_! You were suggesting _that_!”

He turned to look at her. He had stiffened at her words, and now he looked like he had turned into a tomato with curly hair on top. “No, I wasn’t,” he said anxiously before biting into his bottom lip. “Okay, I was,” he finally admitted in a whisper, “but I wasn’t suggesting it just to pass the time. I… I just… wanted to help… to help you. Oh God! Forget it!”

It took Lily a good ten minutes to notice that her mouth was so wide-opened that she could have probably stuffed her whole fist in it. It took her two minutes longer to come to terms with what he had said. She could feel her heart beating furiously in her chest and in her stomach too somehow. He couldn’t be serious. It was certainly an excess of fervour that had brought forth his suggestion. He didn’t… He didn’t mean it, he was just trying to be useful. Surely, that was it. He was trying to be _too_ useful.

She finally closed her mouth when she noticed that his hand was stretching towards her to brush his fingers against her arm. “Lily?” he said, and he sounded very distressed. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I swear I didn’t mean to… to shock you.”

She shook her head, eyes wide, but unable to reply anything at all. Shock? Yes, she was shocked, indeed, but down there she also felt something in her stomach, something that was not exactly shock. She couldn’t define it, but it was probably closer to excitement.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, when she didn’t reply. “God! I’m such an idiot.”

She still didn’t reply and he looked almost on the verge of grabbing her arms and shaking her until she said something. Instead, he shook his head and walked past her. “I’d better go,” he muttered. “I’ll be in my room burying my head under the pillow until I stop breathing.”

And Lily could only turn in time to see him disappear down the corridor.

***

Lily did the dishes without magic. She needed to clear her head and she took as much time as she could, almost burning her hands at some point before she managed to turn off the hot water tap with an elbow.

She sighed. She loved Hugo. She seriously, really did. And he was so fit… She raised her head and blinked before shaking her head. No, no, no. She was allowed to think those things because her other cousins thought those things too. He was fit. He was handsome. He was really handsome. And she did like the way he treated her, the way he took care of her, the way he talked to her. He seemed to treat her like she was the centre of his world. But that was what cousins did, wasn’t it? She tried to remember if Fred had ever cooked for her, or if Louis had ever helped her out with something, but she really couldn’t find anything as she strolled down memory lane. Well, clearly Hugo was a gentleman. He was polite, a great cook, very caring—damn it! He was definitely a catch. Surely, he would soon find a girlfriend and then there would be no offer to go down on her for researching purposes. She should have taken advantage of the moment. She nodded resolutely, dried her hands on a tea towel and turned towards the corridor.

No! What was she doing? They weren’t going to pretend to hide in the Burrow to find a way to have sex without people noticing. They would… they would actually have sex. Oral sex, of course, no actual intercourse, but wouldn’t things be weird afterwards? And what if she was bad? What if she really did smell, or if he didn’t like her taste? Or if she didn’t shave that well and he could feel the stubble of her hair under his tongue? For him, it was just research, he could have told her all those things just for the sake of informing her, and Lily would have been mortified. She felt like she could have cried if he commented something bad about her body.

No. She was going to tell him no thanks, and everything was going to be all right. He could take his head out from under the pillow.

***

“Come in,” muttered Hugo, and his voice really seemed muffled as if coming from under a real pillow.

Lily pushed the door open and then closed it again for some reason that she didn’t even know. She walked towards the bed and sat next to him, the small of her back brushing against his side. “Okay,” she said a bit breathlessly.

Hugo raised a corner of the pillow to look at her, but she only saw him out of the corner of her eye. She was fidgeting nervously in her lap, and staring at the poster of Oliver Wood in front of her.

“What?” he asked her softly.

She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she replied. “I’m happy if you want to help me.” She felt her cheeks becoming so hot that she wondered how long before her brain melted because of all the blushing she was doing.

He raised the pillow and pushed it against the headboard of the bed, turning to look at her properly.

She kept her eyes on Oliver Wood, who was pirouetting and scoring a point on a loop. “I mean, you’re just helping me,” she murmured. “Just helping, it’s not like we’re embarking on a raunchy love affair.”

She didn’t know at what point she had changed her mind, but it had happened between the kitchen and his room. Probably, when she had walked past the letter and saw that it was still there on the table. Still unanswered, as it was going to be for forever if she didn’t take Hugo’s generous offer and ran with it.

Hugo’s breath caught in his throat. “Are you serious?” he asked her softly. “Are you having me on?”

She shook her head, lowering her eyes. “No, I’m serious,” she replied. “Serious, serious, serious. Serious. Serious. I’m serious.”

He pushed himself on a sitting position next to her, leaning back against the pillow. He seemed to be staring at her, but she didn’t look up to check.

Slowly, he stretched a hand and covered her hands with it, stopping her fidgeting. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he whispered. “We have this beautiful relationship, Lily; I would hate to ruin it because I can be a brainless idiot who doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”

She smiled softly and looked down at his hand in her lap. She turned her hands upside down and closed them around his fingers. Finally, she looked up at him. “I am scared and nervous,” she admitted, “but I promise you that our relationship won’t be ruined in any way.”

He smiled back at her, looking reassured. “Awesome,” he murmured. “And I swear there’s nothing to be scared or nervous about.” His hand slid from hers and he placed it on her thigh. “Do you want to do it now?” he whispered.

Lily’s breath caught in her throat. “Oh Merlin, no!” she replied. His hand moved away as if she had burnt him and, once again, he looked rather abashed. She turned a little towards him, looking at him with eyes wide. “I need to shower first and… and shave… and… and clean myself properly.” She felt anxious now. “Not that I’m not clean, I’m always clean, okay?”

He smiled reassuringly at her. “I’m sure you are,” he said. “You just do whatever you have to do to get ready, okay?”

She nodded and smiled nervously. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He moved on the bed until his arms were around her body and he was hugging her to his naked chest. She hugged him back, feeling his soft skin under her palms and his heart beating quickly next to her head.

He kissed her temple. “Everything is going to be more than fine,” he whispered. “I promise.”

She swallowed. “I know,” she whispered back. “I trust you.” And as he squeezed her tightly against his body, she found that she really did, completely and utterly, trust him.

***

Lily had never spent more than one hour in the shower. Whatever her brothers claimed, it was not true. She was usually quick and used less water than anybody else in her family did. She did spend more than one hour that afternoon, though.

She shaved from her ankles to her waist, even when there really was no need to do so. She slid her fingers everywhere on her skin to feel if there was any stubble that she had left behind, and wasn’t satisfied until she almost started bleeding.

Then she scrubbed herself clean. Everywhere. Especially between her legs, lathering herself up with extra-foamy shower gel. Until the thought of Hugo swallowing some soap and then being sick crossed her mind, and she hurried to rinse herself until her skin became all red and irritated.

She let out a frustrated wail at that. Why did all those witches on Al and James’ magazines look so perfect? Their skin was flawless and smooth and she was sure that they didn’t have a single blemish nor that they used a razor because they didn’t grow body hair.

She turned off the water and grabbed a towel, patting her skin delicately so not to irritate it further. Then scooped up a generous dollop of strawberry-scented body cream and started to rub it gently all over her body. She took a deep breath and started to fret that it was too sweet. What if Hugo was going to gag over it? She considered going back into the shower to rinse it away, but then she remembered that the scent would tone down in a matter of minutes.

She dried her hair with a spell and tried to comb it as prettily as she could, letting it flow down over one shoulder in voluminous waves. She wondered if she should have worn any makeup at all, but decided against it. What if she started sweating? Her palms were already sweating, what if her face did too and she changed into a clown? She shivered at the idea and walked out of the bathroom.

The flat was silent. She glanced at Hugo’s room and found it open and empty. The image of her cousin sitting in the living room, still like a statue and waiting for her, made her guts twist in her stomach. She hurried into her room and closed the door with a bang.

God! Now came the really difficult part. What to wear? She considered wearing nothing, just going to the living room wrapped up in the towel, or even without a towel. However, that felt like an unnecessary exposure of skin and parts that she didn’t necessarily want to show. On the other hand, though, having Hugo undressing her or undressing in front of him, sounded almost more sexual than being naked already.

She huffed and looked sternly at her reflection. “It is sexual anyway,” she muttered to herself. “He’s going to go down on you, for God’s sake!” She swallowed and shook her head.

He was doing her a favour that was all. She would be too focused on taking mental notes of what she was feeling to actually feel anything anyway.

She let the towel fall to the floor and walked to her chest of drawers.

Inside there was a mess. She had jumpers next to trousers, skirts all crumpled up in a corner, shirts whose sleeves were all knotted up together. She looked for a dress, or a long top, something that would cover her as she walked in front of him and that was easy to flip up. Did she want knickers? She probably did. She imagined that after her orgasm she would have to lie for a while. _If_ she had an orgasm really. She widened her eyes. Merlin! What if she didn’t have an orgasm? Would Hugo feel inept? Would he keep going until she actually had an orgasm? “Fake it,” she muttered, “just fake it.”

She nodded to herself and went back to her search for the perfect outfit to wear while she had oral sex with her cousin. She had no freaking clue! Damn it! Why wasn’t there a guide for the perfect outfit to wear when you have oral sex with your cousin?

“Enough,” she muttered, “I know how to find something.” She closed her eyes, pushed her hand into a drawer, and grabbed the first thing that came into contact with her hand. It was soft and smooth and when she opened her eyes again, she found herself staring at a crimson silk vest top. It was short and sexy, and meant to be worn under proper clothes, naturally, but the shop assistant at Madam Malkin’s had assured her that guys loved it, and she had winked for good measure too.

Lily looked warily at it. Maybe she could try again, but what if she picked up something even more revealing? Not that this one was revealing at all. In fact, she was very well covered from her chest to her waist. And she was sure she had coordinated knickers to go with it, she just hoped they were clean. They sure were: those weren’t articles that she wore every day. Almost never actually. It was one of those things that she had bought on an impulse, worn once and then forgot she even had it.

She Summoned the matching knickers and smelled them. They weren’t freshly laundered, but they didn’t smell either, and they were clean. She took a deep breath and donned them quickly, then proceeded to wear the vest top and looked at herself in the mirror again.

She wasn’t wearing a bra, but a bra would have looked ridiculous under the silk top. She could cover her pointy nipples that were a bit visible against the material with her hair. Thank God for long hair!

Or she could hunch her shoulders a little.

Or honestly, Hugo should have focused on something other than her breasts.

She raised her chin and nodded at her reflection. She grabbed the letter and an empty piece of parchment as well as a quill and ink, and made her way to the living room as nonchalantly as if she was going to spend the next hour chatting about Quidditch instead than having sex.

The flat was still silent and, for a moment, she wondered if Hugo got cold feet and had fled the house. But no, as she peered into the living room, she saw his head covered in red curls appearing from over the sofa.

She took a deep breath and finally walked in there, trying to look as cool and as composed as she could. She didn’t look at him as she circled the sofa and sat quietly on it, leaning her shoulders against the armrest, she placed her feet near his legs and stared at the letter and the parchment in her hands.

She had perceived Hugo’s movements as she had walked in front of him, his breath suddenly caught in his throat, his eyes following her.

“I locked the Floo and Warded the flat,” he whispered suddenly.

She looked up at him, eyes wide. She hadn’t thought about that at all. “Thank you,” she whispered back, as if talking loudly was out of place at that moment.

He nodded and there was a long pause before he spoke again, “You look very nice.”

She felt her cheeks burn. “I didn’t know what to wear,” she said almost frantically. “I closed my eyes and fished this out of my drawer.”

He smiled gently at her. “It’s pretty.”

She felt her face muscles pulling her lips back in what was probably a terrified smile. She placed the ink bottle on the floor with trembling hands and swallowed as she tried to roll the parchment around the quill. “You… you’re going to tell me if I smell, right?” she asked suddenly, her voice choked. “I mean, I don’t want you to do it if you’re disgusted, or if you don’t like the way I taste, okay?” She took a sharp breath and wished quite the contrary. She didn’t want to know if he didn’t like her smell or her taste. She would burst into tears if he commented on her like that.

He looked at her, surprised. “Lily, I…” his voice trailed away, as if he was trying to find the right words. When he found them, he went on, “A guy doesn’t go down on a girl thinking about her taste or her smell.”

She widened her eyes, not really believing him. “Of course he does,” she replied unsurely. That’s what was written in those erotic novels she had read under her covers at Hogwarts.

He shook his head. “I can’t speak for the whole male population,” he said, “but I can tell you that I don’t.”

“Then what do you think about?” she asked anxiously. Something else that she hadn’t thought about herself? The shape of her vagina? God, she needed a mirror right now.

He looked at her, eyes dark. “I just can’t wait to see the girl coming apart under my… my touch,” he whispered. “I fret that she might not like what I do to her; I’m busy reading her signals. I…”

“Yes?” she breathed.

He swallowed. “It makes me hard to know that I’ve brought her off with just my mouth… It’s… It’s erotic to look at her as she orgasms and think that it was all my doing.” He smiled awkwardly at her. “Am I making any sense?”

She nodded frantically, feeling her face on fire. “Shall I… Shall I take off my knickers?” she asked, her voice throaty. “Or move them around? Or… or take them off probably… right?” Her hands went to the black lace that adorned the elastic band of the knickers, but his own hand closed on one of hers, making her start.

“I’ll do it,” he said softly.

She sucked in her breath, but still tried to look calm. “Okay,” she said, and her hand slid from under his. She set the letter, parchment, and quill on the floor and leant her head back against the armrest.

She looked at him and only then noticed that he hadn’t moved his hand from her hip. She placed her own hands on her stomach, not knowing where else to put them. Now the only sound she could hear was her own breathing.

“Are you ready?” he asked her, his tongue darting out to wet his lips before he glanced up at her face. “Are you comfortable?”

She blushed and nodded, not trusting her voice at that moment.

He smiled his handsome and reassuring smile. “Everything,” he murmured, as his hand slid from her hip down to her leg, until his fingers closed around her ankle, “is going to be alright.” He brought his other hand to her other ankle and gently moved them until there was enough room for him to lie down between them.

He moved slowly, as if that moment was delicate and not only required whispers, but also gentle gestures. He shifted on the couch and Lily stared at him with her lips parted as he turned towards her and lowered his head a little.

She thought he was going to grasp her knickers and pull them down without so much of a, “Can I?” so she wasn’t prepared when he raised her leg and his wet lips pressed against the nub of her ankle.

She stared at him, unable to do anything else. His eyelids drooped and he took a deep breath, as if he wanted to breathe her smell in until his lungs were filled with her scent. She wanted to tell him that it was her body cream and that he could borrow it if he wanted, but words wouldn’t leave her lips as he started to kiss his way up to her leg.

He was soft and gentle, as if she was made of glass, and he kissed her in all those places where she was more sensitive: her ankle, behind her knee, on her inner thigh.

His hands moved too, he placed them right above her knees and pushed them gently apart. He brushed his mouth against the place where her thigh joined her groin, and then looked up at her before kissing over her knickers.

She took a sharp breath and felt her muscles jolt, as her arse raised from the sofa a little. She had thought that she would laugh at some point, because that situation would surely be too ridiculous not to laugh. However, as Hugo pushed his nose against her silk knickers and into her clit, the last thing she wanted to do was laughing.

He withdrew a little and she let out a subtle groan of disappointment and fear. Was he going to tell her that she smelled? Was he going to throw up? Was he going to tell her that he had changed his mind?

At that moment though, she felt his hands on her hips again; his fingers hooked in her knickers. She took a deep, loud breath, and waited for the moment when she would be bared in front of him. It didn’t come, instead his head lowered until he was pressing his lips against her stomach. “Relax,” he murmured gently.

She tried to do that, but when he raised his head again, his hands started to pull down her knickers and she felt her breath coming out in short puffs again. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to steady it.

She didn’t know if she had raised her arse once more or if he had raised her lower body with his hands, but soon she could feel the material being pushed past her knees and then her ankles and finally it fell to the floor with a soft plop.

She was probably shaking, she wasn’t sure, but when she opened her eyes again, Hugo was looking between her legs. His eyes were darker than usual, his lips parted and he seemed to breathe heavily too, even though Lily could still only hear her own breathing.

However, he must have sensed her discomfort, because he murmured a, “Beautiful,” before he lowered his head again.

He had been so gradual and gentle, easing her into the act, that she didn’t expect him to be on her that quickly. But he was. He lowered his head, slid his hands under her legs, over her hips, and pressed them over her stomach.

And then he was on her. Completely on her. She didn’t know if it was because she was particularly small, or because he was that much bigger than her, but his mouth seemed to reach _everywhere_.

She raised her arms over her head, grasping the armrest behind her. Her legs tried to move closer to his head, but only managed to bump into his broad shoulders.

She was breathing so raggedly now that she couldn’t almost hear the sounds he was making, but she could feel everything and for a moment the sensations were so intense that she almost didn’t know how to react to them.

And Lily had no term of comparison, but she thought that Hugo was bloody awesome. His tongue seemed to reach places inside of her that she almost couldn’t find when she touched herself, he applied the perfect pressure on her clit, circling it and then even licking his way down to her other hole, something that made her squirm and shake even more powerfully.

She had thought that she would be too busy focusing on recording the feelings and sensations, but she could barely concentrate on anything that it wasn’t the tightening in her stomach and the thousand butterflies that seemed to be fluttering their wings where his fingers were pressing, right under her navel.

She closed her eyes and brought a hand down, wanting, more than anything, to close her fingers around something, to find something to squeeze. She bumped into his hand and tried to close her fingers around his wrist, he didn’t let her, though. He turned his hand and enlaced his fingers into hers, squeezing without hurting, and she squeezed back.

She was moaning now, she knew that much even though her brain seemed to be melting under his ministrations. He pushed his tongue into her and his nose bumped into her clit, she tried to raise her lower abdomen off the couch, but his hand pushed her back down.

Slowly, she felt something starting to build right where his hand was pressing. Something that made her toes tingle and flames burning inside of her. It was as if muscle after muscle all her body tightened and her skin covered in gooseflesh, and when he closed his lips over her clit and suckled, she moaned so loudly, she hoped he had sound proofed the flat as well.

She planted her feet near his shoulders, her hand squeezed his, and she bit down on her arm.

And then, he slid his hand down to her front and nudged a finger past her lips and into her as he tortured her clit with his mouth. He sucked, bit gently, licked, and laved every inch of her sex as if he couldn’t get enough of her. He pushed his tongue inside along his finger and then kissed her clit before taking it once more between his lips and sucking hard on it.

And suddenly it was too much, and Lily couldn’t do much except close her eyes and arch her back as he pushed her over the edge and she came with a keening cry.

He kept his mouth over her clit, suckling and massaging it with his lips, patiently waiting for her orgasm to subdue. He squeezed her hand until the moment she let out a sigh, and then kept his fingers enlaced into hers until she took a deep breath and shifted slightly on the couch.

He pressed his lips to the inside of her thigh, they were wet and a bit sticky, and as Lily opened her eyes and looked down at him, she felt the desire to kiss those lips just to taste herself on him.

She didn’t move though, and he didn’t either.

She had imagined he would grab her knickers and push them up her legs; he would stand up, maybe joke about something and leave her to write the reply. Instead, he stayed there, his fingers lazily drawing circles over her knee, his lips still against her thigh, his eyes boring into hers.

He waited for her to catch her breath and, with consideration, he kept his eyes away from between her legs. Then he whispered, “Are you alright?” as he leant his chin over her thigh.

She let out a puff of air that sounded like a laugh. “Yeah,” she replied a bit breathlessly. “Yeah, I’m alright…”

Hugo smiled and finally sat up again; he looked away from her and bit his bottom lip. And when he moved Lily couldn’t help herself. Her eyes travelled down to his lap, not knowing if she was more anxious to find that he had been affected by her orgasm or not. She felt something in her stomach again when her eyes fell on the bulge in his shorts.

He was hard. It was all her fault, and she hadn’t even done anything. The idea of lending a helping hand to him crossed her mind, but she couldn’t find the courage to voice that. Not even as a joke.

When he picked up her knickers, he didn’t seem able to know what to do with them. Finally, she stretched her hand and he handed them over. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He nodded, still not looking at her as she made them slide up her legs with great difficulty. She felt as if every limb in her body was made of jelly and, when she sat up next to him, her head felt light and her ears still buzzed pleasantly.

“Do you need help with the reply?” he asked her softly.

She giggled nervously. “I think you’ve done enough.”

He blushed at that, but finally turned to look at her. “Lily, I…”

She didn’t know what he was going to say, but she urged him on, nonetheless. “Yes?” she asked softly, afraid that he was going to apologise. Apologise for what?

He shook his head, as if he didn’t want to tell her what he was really thinking. “I need to take a shower,” he said, blushing. “Then I’m going to make some lasagne for dinner, is that alright?”

She waited a bit, hoping he would add something else, but he didn’t. “Of course it’s alright,” she whispered, leaning over him and kissing his cheek. “Thank you.”

***

> _Dear Scared Birthday Girl,_
> 
> _First of all, Happy Birthday! Twenty years old! I hope yours will be a day to remember._
> 
> _~~Second, oral sex is bloody awesome.~~ _
> 
> _~~Second, I just had the most mind-blowing orgasm of my life.~~ _
> 
> _Second, I’d like to address your ~~stupid~~ fears and concerns about oral sex. ~~I shared them all before a man went down on me.~~ I can understand them, don’t you worry, and I can assure you that many women share your same anxieties. In fact, it is a very intimate act, where you are at the complete mercy of your partner. Therefore, it’s very important that you trust this person and are comfortable with them performing such an act on you. _
> 
> _I can assure you that your embarrassment won’t be in the way of the pleasure you’ll feel. ~~God, I just wanted him to never get his mouth off me once he started.~~ If your partner is ~~as~~ skilled ~~as mine~~ , and knows what he’s doing, you will definitely find this sexual encounter very satisfying. Probably one of the strongest orgasms you might experience, since the combined stimulation of his mouth, tongue, and fingers will be ideal for you to reach the highest peaks of pleasure. _
> 
> _I do understand what you mean when you say that you’re afraid that he might find your taste or your smell unpleasant. What you have to understand is that sampling your smell and taste is not the main reason why your partner is going down on you. Whatever colourful words he might use, you’re not a meal, he is not a starving man, and he is not doing it because you’re his favourite dessert. He is doing it because he wants to give you pleasure. Because he loves you. ~~Because he wants to help you out with your job.~~ _
> 
> _And I’m sure your relationship will come out even stronger after this._
> 
> _That said, please do anything you need to do to prepare, physically and psychologically. Wash yourself thoroughly if you feel so inclined, shave accurately, and use scented body cream._
> 
> _And remember that if you’d rather still not do it, you don’t have to agree to it. Let it be clear to your partner that without your consent there will be no birthday present. ~~Although, it is a pretty cool birthday present, and I’m seriously considering asking Hugo for it for my birthday as well.~~ _
> 
> _Love and again Happy Birthday,_
> 
> _Lavender_


	7. Chapter 7

***

> _Dear Michael,_
> 
> _Thank you for your letter. I wish you a very, very Happy Birthday! Eat a big slice of cake for me, okay? Send some over too, if you want to! I love chocolate cake…_
> 
> _Ah, I’ve always wanted a Crup too. I remember when I was five, I told my mum that I’d refuse to eat until she got me one. But my mum is shrewd, she baked a big cake for tea and my hunger strike lasted less than five minutes._
> 
> _But you see, Michael, I got something wrong at that time. I’ll tell you a secret: all parents would like a pet too, but they are scared that nobody is going to look after it! And they worry that one day their children will wake up and get tired of playing with the Crup that they got, and will want to send it back to Magical Menagerie._
> 
> _So, what you have to do – and don’t tell anybody I told you this secret – is to promise to take care of that Crup, to love it, feed it, and stay with it when the poor thing is sick. I’m sure it’ll work like a charm when they see how serious you are with it!_
> 
> _And if it still doesn’t work, maybe you can start with something smaller? A goldfish or a Pigmy Puff? (Pygmy Puff are awesome, too!) And after they’ve seen what a good little owner you are, I’m sure they’ll take you to the shop to buy you a Crup straightaway._
> 
> _Love and Happy Birthday!_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

Lily was greatly surprised to find three letters waiting for her in Lavender’s office. Three shiny new letters all for her. Well, addressed to Lavender, of course, but they were three more letters for her to take care of.

She picked them up from the basket where they were dumped every morning by whoever distributed the post at the Prophet, and stared at them.

She wondered if she should have opened them there and then. Before she went home and accidentally read them in front of Hugo again. She felt her heartbeat increase as she wondered what was in there. Some girl asking advice on her first time? Some married couple wanting to conceive a child and needing to know all sorts of positions in order to do so? A teenage asking for direction on how to give a blowjob?

Lily felt her cheeks burning at the very thought. Why couldn’t they ask normal things? The Daily Prophet was a respectable newspaper for crying out loud! She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. They weren’t being weird, they just needed help and Lavender was there exactly for that. To help them.

She bit her bottom lip. At the thought that the letters contained more problems and fears like the one she had opened on Saturday, she felt her muscles jolt in her lower abdomen. She couldn’t tell if it was in fear or anticipation though.

Hugo had told her that he didn’t want to let what they had done ruin their relationship. Lily thought that certainly it hadn’t ruined it. Of course, they hadn’t really looked at each after dinner on Saturday night, both of them being exceptionally quiet. And they had kept a bit of a distance at the Burrow on Sunday, feeling constantly under the scrutiny of the rest of the family. However, once home, they had played Exploding Snap for the whole evening, stuffing their faces with leftovers from Grandma and chatting about James’ new girlfriend who looked like she was a bit overwhelmed about the size of their family.

And things had seemed like they were back to normal.

Even though Lily felt a little electrical shock every time he brushed his hand against hers. She supposed it was all her body’s fault: somehow her skin and her guts were recalling the way he made her feel. And honestly, it really wasn’t her fault if he was _that_ good. God! For a moment while she was still lying on that sofa and he was in the shower, she had thought about asking him for a repeat performance. She could have used the excuse that she hadn’t taken enough thorough notes and needed another go.

She wondered what he would have replied. Maybe he would have joked about her being insatiable. Maybe he would have told her that he was looking forward to that. Maybe he would have said no and told her to get lost.

She almost felt her heart skip a beat at that thought. That would have had the power to make her run to her bedroom and never get out of there ever again. _That_ would have ruined their relationship.

She shook her head. They were just conjectures, after all. As she was saying, they had barely talked afterwards and they hadn’t mentioned _that_ at all. No, no, no. She decided to put those thoughts away and lock them forever in a forgotten part of her brain.

She stuffed the letters into her bag and nodded resolutely. She would read them that afternoon, and talk to Hugo about them without the hint of embarrassment, whatever they were about. She nodded again, walked out of the office and closed the door behind her.

“Hi Lily.”

She almost started at the voice that greeted her so cheerfully, a real shock after all those minutes of quiet thinking to herself. She turned and found herself looking at Mr Quills’ son. A smile spread his lips, and he seemed genuinely happy to see her.

“Hi…”

“Derek.”

“Derek, of course,” she said quickly, blushing. Merlin, forgetting her boss’ name definitely wouldn’t do. “How are you?”

He smiled warmly at her, as if she had just asked him something more intimate than a simple routine question. “I’m very well, thank you,” he replied. “You?”

“Brilliant,” she said, smiling back. “I was just about to go and say hi to my mum.”

He nodded, his smile becoming a bit awkward, as if he knew that she knew that he had gone to her mother to enquire about her. “I was wondering if you’d like to get a coffee sometime,” he said suddenly, his hands closing rhythmically over a pile of parchments. He swallowed when she didn’t reply and seemed to feel the urge to add, “Just because you’re the only other young person working here. I thought… I thought it would be nice to maybe… like… get to know you… I…” His voice trailed away and he suddenly looked so panicky that, without thinking, Lily felt the urge to go to his rescue.

“I’d love to get a coffee,” she said, smiling. “I love coffee. There’s nothing I love more than coffee. Only tea. And milk. And maybe Butterbeer.” She had to stop talking.

He didn’t seem to focus on her rant though. Instead, he appeared to let out a subtle sigh of relief as the smile returned to his face. “Brilliant. Wednesday?” he asked hopefully. “Any time, I can free myself.”

She blushed at his enthusiasm. “Four?” she asked back in a murmur.

“It’s a date,” he replied before blushing too. “I mean, it’s not a date, it’s more like… more like a coffee date.” He swallowed again. “Or maybe a coffee without a date.”

She couldn’t help smiling. “Shall we go to the Leaky Cauldron? I know the owner, maybe we can get away with a free slice of cake,” she said.

“Oh, I’ll buy,” he hurried to say before blushing an even darker shade of crimson. “I mean, if you want to… if you’re not offended by some weird guy offering you coffee on a non-date.”

“I’m not, and you’re not weird, Derek,” she assured him gently. He was an artist, though; she knew they were all a bit weird.

“Thank you,” he grinned. “Wednesday, I’ll see you at four o’clock.” Then he widened his blue eyes and added, “Or five past, or whenever you feel like coming.”

“Four sharp, I’ll be there.”

“Great,” he sighed. “Have a lovely, lovely day, Lily.”

“You too,” she replied as she sidestepped him and hurried towards her mother’s office.

***

“I know you talked to Derek. Spill the beans, now!”

A bright smile stretched her mother’s lips. “Aww, is it Derek already?”

Lily blushed as she strode towards her mother’s desk. “What did you tell him?” she asked him. “No, no, no. What did he ask?”

She leant back against her chair and grinned. “He’s such a dear, isn’t he?”

“Mum!”

“And I think he’s quite handsome, too,” she went on, “and he’s an artist! I love artists.”

“Muuum!”

She looked at her and cocked her head. “He just asked me if you were single, and what you liked to do.”

“And what did you tell him?” she asked anxiously.

Her mother cocked an eyebrow. “Well, you are single,” she replied. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling me…”

“I’m single,” she hurried to say, feeling her cheeks colour even more for Merlin knew what reason. “But that doesn’t mean that I want to change that any time soon.”

Her mother furrowed her brow. “What happened?”

“He just asked me out for a coffee!” she complained, plopping on a chair.

“How dares he?” her mother deadpanned.

“Mum!”

“Well, it’s not like he asked you to marry him,” she pointed out. “Unless coffee is some kind of slang for marriage amongst you youngsters.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s just… I’m busy, okay?” she muttered. “I’ve got letters to write, and my stuff to unpack still.”

“You’ve moved into the flat more than two weeks ago,” pointed out her mother.

Lily glared at her and repeated, “I’m busy.”

“I bet Hugo’s unpacked everything,” replied her mother haughtily, “and he’s way busier than you are.”

Lily rolled her eyes and didn’t reply.

“So?” asked her mother after a while. “Do you have a date with your boss’ son?”

Lily sighed. “Yes,” she replied. “I mean, it’s not a date. It’s just coffee, at the Leaky Cauldron.” Her eyes widened as something light up in her brain. “Oh my word, don’t you dare go to Neville and Hannah to ask about it afterwards, okay?”

She giggled like a teenager. “Apparently, I will have to ask Claire about it,” she said.

Lily looked at her mother, surprised. “How do you know her?”

“I don’t,” she replied calmly, “but Neville told me that she went to him to complain about this red-headed girl who was drunk and all over a tall, handsome young man. Also red-headed.”

Lily buried her face in her hands, than raised her head again. “He didn’t tell her that he was my cousin, did he?” she asked anxiously.

Her mother furrowed her brow. “I don’t know,” she replied. “Why?”

Lily’s face darkened. “Because she was very nasty to me,” she replied fiercely, “and she was the one who was all over Hugo. And she’s not ugly, and I don’t want her to think that she has a chance with him, and then maybe they go out and then she moves into the flat and finally she’s there night and day. I don’t like her.”

Her mother looked at her as if she was a bit out of her mind. “So you’re going to pretend to be Hugo’s girlfriend, so that no girl is going to flirt with him?”

She nodded forcefully, glad that she understood.

“Hugo is so lucky,” deadpanned her mother, shaking her head.

“I know,” replied Lily calmly, shrugging a shoulder. “You should remind him when you see him.”

***

The first letter was written by a woman who complained about her next-door neighbour’s pet snake slithering its way into her garden every afternoon.

The second letter was from a teenager with acne problems, asking for potions and spells that would help her cover it up as best as she could.

The third letter was a fifteen-year-old girl asking for advice on how to tell her parents that she was pregnant.

Lily placed all three letters on the table and took a deep breath. She could feel her heartbeat slowing down as she recognised that it was nothing too embarrassing that she had to reply to. Nothing that required her to get naked and have an orgasm.

She hunched her shoulders a little and tried to push that weird feeling of disappointment at the back of her head.

Honestly! Disappointment for what?

She needed a nap. She clearly wasn’t thinking straight.

***

She woke up after six o’clock, to the rustling of parchment and chewing sounds coming from behind the sofa. She rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up a little to peek towards the kitchen table.

Hugo was standing there, in his underwear, an apple in one hand and one of the letters in the other. He was reading it carefully, his eyes narrowing every now and then, as if he expected them to ask something sexual again.

“Are you reading my correspondence?”

He turned to look at her, eyes wide in surprise. “I thought you were sleeping,” he said, placing the letter down with the others and walking towards her. He bit into the apple and placed a hand over the back of the couch, looking down at her.

She lay back down and stared up at him. “Shall we get some take away tonight?” she suggested. “I don’t want you to cook for me every day.”

He grinned as he bit into the apple again. “I can always cook for myself while you eat chips out of a bag.”

She pretended to look outraged at him, eyes wide and mouth equally wide.

He couldn’t help laughing at her expression. “Chinese?” he asked her.

She grinned. “Love it.”

“I’ll buy.” He turned and went to throw away the core of the apple in the bin under the sink.

“Oh no,” she replied, standing up and stretching her arms over her head. “I’ll buy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said calmly, washing his hands.

“I’m not,” she replied. “I want to pay for you. As a thank you.”

He dried his hands on a tea towel and turned to look at her. “There’s nothing you have to thank me for,” he said softly.

“Well, then we’ll split,” she replied firmly. “I mean at least Derek asked me if I was against guys who just assumed that girls wanted to—”

“Who?” asked Hugo, cutting her off.

She stopped. She hadn’t intended to tell Hugo that she had a non-date with her boss’ son, for whatever reason she imagined that discussion wouldn’t end too well. “Derek,” she replied, voice quivering a bit.

“Who’s that again?” he asked, leaning back against the kitchen counter and staring at her.

“Mr Quills’ son,” she replied, going to the table to put the letters in some sort of order just to keep her hands busy.

“What did he say?” his voice was slightly cold, as if he already took it for granted that he wouldn’t have liked whatever that man had said.

She took a deep breath. “He asked me if I was against guys paying things to girls,” she replied curtly.

“Why?”

She turned to look at him, rolling her eyes. “Because we’re going on—we’re going to have coffee together on Wednesday,” she said. “And he’s going to buy.”

Hugo folded his arms across his chest. “You’re going on date with him,” he said, and it was not a question.

“No,” she replied, cheeks on fire. “It’s a non-date. We’re just going to get to know each other, that’s all.”

Hugo’s blue eyes seemed made of ice as he stared at her. Then he shook his head, as if she had greatly disappointed him. “You know what? I’m not really hungry tonight,” he muttered. “I don’t feel like having Chinese.”

Lily’s jaw dropped as he turned away from her and started to make his way to his bedroom. He seemed to have all intentions to leave her there, without a further word and for such an idiotic reason.

She wasn’t going to stand there and let him get away with that ridiculous behaviour, though. “What are you talking about?” she asked, striding towards him. “What’s your problem?”

He didn’t stop, he didn’t even acknowledge her, he placed his hand on the handle of his door and pushed it down.

Lily’s fingers closed over his forearm before he could open the door, though. “Hugo!” she called him irritated.

He shook her off rudely and she withdrew her hand as if he had burnt her. He turned to look at her. “I just don’t feel like having dinner tonight,” he repeated dryly.

“That’s poppycock. You must be starving, you’ve been out playing all day,” she replied sourly. “I’m going to get Chinese for two. That’s final.”

“I’m not going to eat it,” he grunted.

“And I’m going to force it down your throat.” She raised her chin and stalked away, not paying any attention to whatever he was muttering under his breath.

She grabbed a few Galleons and dropped them into her pocket; she donned a pair of flip-flops and made her way to the door with a hand in her hair, trying to unknot her locks. She was mindful to slam the door particularly hard so to let him know that she was angry.

She walked the short distance to the tiny Chinese place that had opened three years back in Diagon Alley. Mrs Chang was always nice to her, and always gave her a fistful of Fortune Cookies for free.

She waited patiently in a queue, reading the menu and deciding what to get. Sweet-sour pork, Cantonese fried rice, wonton noodles, chicken in soy sauce, crispy fried chicken, fish dumplings, fried noodles, and shaved ice. She would make Hugo feel completely and utterly guilty if he refused to eat.

“Hi Lily,” said Mrs Chang, bestowing a bright smile upon her. “What can I get you today?”

Lily smiled back as she started to list down everything she wanted, and Mrs Chang looked more and more surprised as she went on. “You’re not eating alone, are you, dear?” she asked her concerned.

“Oh no,” she assured her. “I’m sharing.”

She paid and was given the usual few Fortune Cookies along with two neat piles of food boxes in two white plastic bags. “Say hi to your father,” added Mrs Chang, giggling like a little girl as if it was particularly funny that Lily’s father had been her boyfriend for maybe a week back at school.

She nodded and walked out, lost in thoughts as she made her way back to the flat wrapped in the delicious and exotic smells that rose from the bags. She stopped in front of the door, fumbling with the key a little and when she finally entered, she decided that she wanted to slam the door again, just to let Hugo know that she was back, was still angry, and she was ready to fight for the food.

She didn’t have to, though. Hugo was sitting at the table he had already set, chewing nervously on his bottom lip. As she walked in, he stood up, looking particularly nervous. “I’m sorry,” was the first thing he said.

She hunched her shoulders a bit. “It’s all right,” she replied softly.

He hurried to take her bags, probably chastising himself for having let her go and get the food alone. He placed the bags on the kitchen counter and turned to look at her. He opened his mouth to say something. She didn’t let him, though.

“I don’t like when we’re fighting,” she said curtly. “Especially when I don’t know why we’re fighting.”

“I don’t like when we’re fighting either,” he said quickly.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Then why were we fighting?”

He took a deep breath as if he was getting ready to explain that in a two-hour-lecture. “I… I just don’t want you to get hurt, Lily,” he admitted. “I don’t know this guy and I… I just don’t trust him, okay? He’s your boss’ son, what if he takes advantage of that to… to…”

She furrowed her brow and decided to come to his rescue, just like she had done with Derek. “I’m just going to get a coffee with him, Hugo,” she explained patiently, “and talk. I—and I can’t stress that enough—don’t want a relationship right now, hence he’s not going to hurt me.”

His face seemed to brighten up a little. “Really?” he asked almost like a child who wouldn’t believe his mother’s assurances that his daddy would be home soon.

She raised three fingers. “Solemnly swear,” she replied. “I’m too busy with my job to have a boyfriend anyway.”

He folded his arms across his chest and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re too busy with your job?”

She rolled her eyes. “And napping and eating, happy?” she huffed.

He grinned at her. “What did you buy?” he asked, opening the plastic bags. “Did you get some sweet sour pork?”

“Of course,” she replied, “and fried rice, chicken, dumplings…”

They dished everything and covered the whole table in food. Putting plates so close one to the other, they were not sure where one started and the other finished.

“This looks good,” said Lily, nodding contently. “I’m starving.”

“Me too,” he admitted, as they sat.

“Chopsticks?” she asked as she Summoned them from the bags.

“Thank you.”

There was probably enough food for a little army, but Hugo was a young man who played Quidditch all day long, and Lily was somehow always hungry, so they ate everything and agreed that everything was delicious.

Lily joked about the fact that she would eat like that every day if her father had married Cho Chang instead of her mother.

“But then we wouldn’t be cousins,” pointed out Hugo.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe we’d be best friends anyway,” she replied. “We do get along, and it has nothing to do with the fact that we’re cousins. I don’t get along with the others as well as I do with you.”

He brightened up at that. “Me neither,” he admitted. “You’re right, we’d know each other anyway, and we’d certainly be best friends.”

She nodded thoughtfully. She wondered if they’d be more than best friends if he wasn’t her cousin. Maybe they would be together by now; maybe he would have been her first time, her first kiss, her first crush. She smiled at the thought; and she would still get all the perks of the Weasleys, Grandma’s cooking on Sundays, presents from the rest of the family, being loved and adored, just like Scorpius, Teddy and all her other cousins’ boyfriends and girlfriends were treated in their family.

“You’re smiling.”

She blinked and looked at Hugo, who had a grin stretching his lips as if he knew exactly what she was thinking about. “I was lost in thought,” she muttered, then, before he could ask her anything else, she added, “Care to help me with the letters?”

He nodded and shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, sure, I’d love that.”

She Summoned the letters and all she needed to take notes. “Let’s start with…” She closed her eyes and picked one up. “Miss Mummy’s letter,” she announced as she read the name at the bottom.

“The fifteen-year-old pregnant girl?” asked Hugo.

Lily nodded. “Tell me everything.”

He furrowed his brow. “I’m sorry, do I look like I know how to break the news of a pregnancy to someone?” he asked calmly. “I’ve never been pregnant, nor do I have any intentions of getting pregnant any time soon.”

“Well, get in touch with your girly side,” she insisted. “What is it saying to you?”

“To ask my cousin, who is—you don’t say!—a girl.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I have no clue,” she replied. “If I had gotten pregnant at fifteen, I would have probably cried and cried and cried…”

“You can’t write that to her, you need to be comforting and reassuring,” he told her. “You don’t know her situation, what if she told her boyfriend and he left her? You need to show her that she’s strong by herself and that she can do it, crying is not the answer, Lily.”

She looked at him, eyes wide and lips parted, completely raptured by his words.

“What?” he asked when she didn’t reply.

“If I had gotten pregnant at fifteen,” she confessed, “now I know that I would have come to you before going to anybody else.”

He smiled and blushed faintly. “Thank you.”

She smiled back, but didn’t know what to say next. She wondered if she had been the daughter of Harry Potter and Cho Chang and if Hugo Weasley had gotten her pregnant at fifteen, what would he have done? Would he have stayed there with her? Surely. But he was too clever to get someone pregnant at fifteen anyway.

“Do you want to role-play it?” he asked suddenly. “You can be Lily the fifteen-year-old mummy-to-be, and I’ll be Harry Potter, the father-you-have-to-break-the-news-to.”

She looked at him, smiling. “That sounds brilliant,” she gushed, jumping up despite the inordinately amount of Chinese food she had just had. She started pacing for the kitchen, under Hugo’s amused stare. “You’re sitting in your study, doing your Aurorish things,” she told him, “and I just come in and… have I already told Mum?” She looked at him, eyes wide.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he said. “You’re right, you’d probably go to her first, wouldn’t you?”

She thought about it. Yes, she would probably go to her mother first. And ask her to assist while she told her father. “Right,” she said, “you’ll be my mum, sitting in her study, writing an article as I—”

“Your mum?” he protested. “Oh come on!”

She grinned at him. “You’ll do great,” she assured him. “Okay, pretend you’re writing something about Quidditch.” She pushed the quill and parchment towards him and levitated the dirty dishes towards the sink to make some room.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, but pretended to be writing something nonetheless. She took a deep breath and took a step towards him.

“Mummy,” she said in the most childish voice she could muster.

He raised a hand in front of her face. “Try again,” he said. “I’d have a heart attack if my five-year-old daughter would tell me that she was pregnant.”

Now it was her time to roll her eyes. She cleared her throat. “Mummy?” she called him in a high-pitched, yet not so childish voice.

“One second, peanut,” he replied, his voice high-pitched too. “Mummy needs to finish this.”

“She doesn’t call me ‘peanut’,” she let him know. “‘Pumpkin’ maybe, but not ‘peanut’.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied in the same high-pitched voice. “One second, _pumpkin_.” He pretended to be scribbling down something else and finally nodded and raised his eyes on her. “Yes, my precious daughter? My perfect offspring. My beautiful child.”

She tried to glare at him, but the smile that was tugging at her lips didn’t help. “Hugo!”

He winked. “Yes, Lily?”

“Better,” she muttered. “Mum… Mummy, I need to tell you something.”

“Of course, darling,” he said sweetly. “What is it? You know that Mummy is always here for you, right?”

She took a deep breath, feeling a weird unease spread through her body. “I made a mess, Mummy,” she murmured, “a big mess.”

He pushed himself back from the table a bit, and patted his lap. “Oh come on, my darling,” he said. “I’m sure that anything you’ve done is not that terrible.”

She shook her head and didn’t go to him. If this had not been a role-play, she would have wanted to keep herself miles away from her mother’s hands. Not that she had ever hit her, but she was sure she would be flailing them about a lot very soon.

Hugo pouted sympathetically. “What is it, Lily? What’s so terrible?”

She bit her bottom lip and lowered her eyes. “Impregnant,” she whispered.

“What darling? I didn’t quite catch that,” said Hugo, leaning a bit towards her.

She sighed. “I’m pregnant,” she repeated aloud.

She waited for whatever reaction Hugo thought his aunt would have at those words. She was bracing herself for some realistic screaming, or for a long rebuke about how inconsiderate she’d been, or for some crying and self-loathing about the way she had brought her up.

Instead, there was silence.

She looked at him, furrowing her brow, and saw that Hugo had decided to go with the shocked-out-of-her-wits mother. His eyes were wide and his face was so still, she wondered if he was holding his breath, too.

“Mummy?” she called softly.

He blinked and looked at her. “You’re pregnant?” he asked, his voice throaty and high-pitched at the same time.

She nodded disconsolately. “I’m sorry,” she added, deciding to end the word with a loud sob for good measure.

Hugo didn’t move. “My pumpkin is pregnant?” he almost wailed. “Oh Merlin!” He buried his face in his hands before looking up at her, face much harder than before. “Who’s the father?” he asked sharply.

Lily furrowed her brow, she hadn’t thought about that. Who could she say? For a moment she thought she could say Hugo’s name, but that wouldn’t probably have been as funny as she intended it to be. She decided to be naughty instead. “Derek,” she sighed. “Derek Quills.”

Hugo glared at her, tilting his head and pressing his lips together. “Really?” he asked in his own voice, sounding supremely unimpressed.

She looked at him, as an innocent smile tugged at her lips. “Yes,” she replied. “I’m so in love with him, Mummy.”

His face darkened. “Well, then it’s all good,” he replied, still in his voice. “You can pack your bags and go live with him. Have a nice rest of your life.”

“Oh Hugo,” she sighed. “I’m joking, come on! Stay in character.”

He snorted to let her know that he thought she was not funny, but when he talked again, he was back to being her mother. “I knew that boy was trouble,” he almost snapped. “I knew it! Oh my! Did he force you? Did he ask you to do things that you didn’t want to?”

She shook her head. “No, Mummy, I swear,” she replied. “I… I knew what we were doing.”

“But neither of you know about contraceptive charms, apparently,” he replied dryly. “Have you talked to him?”

She shook her head. “You’re the first person I told it to,” she murmured. “I’m so scared, Mummy.” She forced her eyes to tear up. “I don’t know what to do or how to do it. I’m a mess, and I’m scared I’ll make an even bigger mess with the baby. I need you, Mummy.”

Hugo’s hard stare seemed to mellow. “Aww, Lily,” he said, his voice not quite as high-pitched as before. He stood and went to hug her. “Don’t you worry, pumpkin, Mummy’s right here.” He caressed her hair as he squeezed her to his chest.

Lily furrowed her brow. “Seriously?” she asked surprised. “You’re not going to threaten to kick me out of the house? Not even to ground me until I’m eighty?”

He let her go. “I don’t think your mother would do that,” he said seriously. “I think you’ve shown great courage to go to her, you look contrite enough, and you asked her for her help. Why wouldn’t she give it to you? She’s your mother, she loves you. She’s going to be there for you, no matter what.”

She smiled. “Aww, Hugo, you make me want to go and get pregnant,” she said cheerfully.

His face darkened again. “You’re joking.”

She threw her arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. “Of course I am,” she laughed. “I love to sleep way too much to have a baby now or in the foreseeable future.”

He seemed to relax at that, and hugged her back.

“This was fun, though,” she said, grinning. “Shall we role-play my dad too?”

Hugo cleared his throat. “You got pregnant at fifteen?” he shouted in a deep voice, tightening his arms around her when she started. “What is wrong with you? Pregnant at fifteen? I was fighting against You-Know-Who at fifteen! Had no time for such shenanigans! God! Who’s the father again? Ginny! Ginny! Get my cloak, I need to go and kill someone!”

She burst into laughter. “He wouldn’t kill him,” she told him, “maybe send him to Azkaban, but not kill him…”

“Right, sorry about that,” chuckled Hugo. “Hey, want to role-play the two neighbours with a pet snake?”

***

> _Dear Miss Mummy,_
> 
> _How are you? I hope you and the child are doing well. Please, do take care of yourself, especially during this torrid summer, drink a lot of water and keep yourself hydrated._
> 
> _I’ll be honest, your situation is quite delicate. Being a teenage mother will not be easy, and I am sure that more than once you’ll find yourself wetting your pillow with tears. Despite what others may think, crying is completely normal and can be a comfort._
> 
> _My suggestion is to tell your parents separately. Tell your mother – or the parent you feel more comfortable sharing something like that – first. Talk to her as calmly and as clearly as possible, don’t take a long time to explain your situation, go straight to the point and let her know that you need her. You need her support, her love, her help to keep going from now on. Let her know that you understand that you made a mistake – let’s be honest here, I don’t think it was in your plans to get pregnant at fifteen, otherwise I think you’d have all figured out already, right? – be honest, be humble, be ready for some screaming (which might never come, though) and for some crying._
> 
> _Then, with your mother as your ally, you can face your father. Don’t worry if he threatens to kill the father of the child, I promise it’s just a phase and it’s going to pass soon._
> 
> _You can do it, darling, you are strong and you’re a wonderful human being, and I’m here if you need my help. All you have to do is write to me._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Lavender xxx_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my wonderful readers! I hope you're not disappointed that there was no S-E-X in this chapter! There will be more to come in the future, don't you worry! 
> 
> So, February has come to an end, and even though March and April don't look like they're going to be any less busy than the first two months of the year - on top of my very busy RL, I've been roped into helping out over at [](http://crack-broom.livejournal.com/profile)[crack_broom](http://crack-broom.livejournal.com/) \- a promise is a promise and therefore, starting from next week, I'm going to update the story three times a week. I'll do my best to have three chapters ready for posting - I'm editing them heavily and I'm currently working on chapter 12 - every week, but will let you know in case RL and FL are just too overwhelming for me to keep up. I've never missed a posting day before, though, so I'm confident I can do this. 
> 
> I have a question for you all: what posting days would you prefer? a) Monday - Wednesday - Friday, with no updates during the weekend? Or b) Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday? I don't mind either option, so just let me know in the comments what you'd prefer and I'll do what the majority of you requests. 
> 
> In the meantime, thank you to all the people who read/comment/kudosed/bookmarked/subscribed to this. It means the world to me, and not just because it's my story, but also because you're sailing a bit with us on our tiny Lugo ship. I definitely feel less alone than I was when I published my first story about them. ♥


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, you've asked for it and I've listened. Updates every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday starting today! Hope you enjoy, guys! And don't you worry one bit about commenting every chapter, you can do it if you want to, but I totally understand that one chapter every other day is quite a bit to keep up with. (That said, I ♥ your comments. All of them! You make my day!) 
> 
> Happy reading to you!

***

Lily found three new letters on Tuesday morning. She was surprised to see that she was actually happy about that turn of events. Well, it was nice to actually have something to do, even though she ended up doing all the work in the evening with Hugo. Maybe if she went all the way to Dorset to have lunch with him, he would help her out during his lunch break as well.

She shook her head and sent that thought away: that was very inconsiderate of her. He probably had only one hour between morning trainings and the afternoon ones; surely, he didn’t want to spend that time helping her.

Maybe she could go just to spend some time with him and his friends. She wanted to see Marie again, she was fun to be around, and the others were too, she had had fun that Friday night. She made a mental note to ask Hugo to take her out with them again that upcoming Friday.

She placed the envelopes into her bag and hurried out of the newsroom, not wanting to meet neither her mother nor Derek. She knew her mother would have asked her more information about her non-date, and Derek… she didn’t know what he would talk about, but she thought he should keep it for their non-date.

***

“My favourite niece in the whole world,” gushed Uncle George as Lily walked into the shop.

“You say that to every niece you’ve got,” grinned Lily as she walked to him.

He grabbed her and stamped a sound kiss over each cheek. “Yes, but I only mean it with you,” he whispered with a wink.

Lily shook her head and giggled. “Where’s Roxy? Is she upstairs?”

Uncle George pretended to look outraged. “Oh, and I thought you were here for me,” he complained. “And to think that I had a beautiful new Headless Hat to gift to my favourite niece.”

“Aww, I love Headless Hats, Uncle George!”

“I’m well aware of that,” he said calmly. “But you’re here to see my daughter, who, for your information, is not here, and this hat is a present that I shall give only to nieces who come to see their favourite uncle.”

Lily’s shoulders hunched slightly. She had hoped to spend a bit of time with Roxanne, maybe stay with her until lunch time and have Auntie Angelina feed her – just to be able to tell Hugo that no, she hadn’t had more junk food for lunch for once. “But you know I love you, Uncle George,” said Lily, grinning, “and I can peek into Hugo’s room without being seen with a Headless Hat.”

He seemed to think hard about that. “Sounds like a noble enough use,” he admitted. He rummaged under the counter and soon Lily had a summery Panama hat on her head. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. “Perfect,” she replied, looking up to her collarbone, where her neck and head disappeared under the hat.

“Yes, it suits you very well, my darling,” replied Uncle George, nodding seriously. “Move your hair back a little,” he added.

She giggled, but complied, or pretended to since she couldn’t really see her hair at all.

“Perfect!” he exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” said a voice at her back. “Try to stop sticking out your tongue at your Uncle George, Lily.”

She turned to look at Uncle Ron and grinned, even though he couldn’t see it. “I’m not!” she giggled.

“Oh, you little witch!” exclaimed Uncle George. “Sticking out your tongue at me?”

He made to grab her and probably smother her in a literally breath-taking embrace, but she let out a little cry and went to hide behind Uncle Ron. “Honestly!” she protested, laughing. “I’m eighteen! I can’t play these games anymore!”

Uncle George stopped at looked at Uncle Ron. “She’s eighteen, Ron,” he said, “she can’t play anymore.”

Uncle Ron snorted. “I’m thirty and I can’t see the problem with playing.”

Uncle George patted his shoulder. “That’s why you’re my business partner, Ickle Ronniekins.”

Lily snorted a, “Thirty,” and before she could even understand what was happening, Uncle Ron had grabbed her and pulled her in an embrace that didn’t let her breath.

“Are you making fun of my age?” he asked her as he dug his fingers in her sides, making her laugh and wriggle in his arms.

She tried to reply, but could only try to gasp down air and laugh even louder.

“Well?”

“No!” she gasped.

Uncle Ron stopped tickling her. “Because it sounded just like that,” he said, starting to tickle her again.

“No! Wait! Wait! Uncle Ronfff!” she laughed so hard that words were not even coming out right.

When he stopped, she was breathless and her tiny hands were wrapped around Uncle Ron’s wrists to keep him from tickling her even more. “But you two,” she gasped, “never have customers?”

Uncle George placed his hands on her sides to tickle her as she kept Uncle Ron’s wrists still in her grasp. “Are you saying that we’re bad businessmen?” he asked and Lily started to scream and laugh before he even began moving his fingers.

“Oh Merlin, how many times do I have to tell you? If you want to kill her, you need to use a Silencing Charm.”

Her uncles’ grasps slackened on her and she ran to Fred, hugging him tightly and catching her breath. “Save me,” she pleaded with her invisible head against his chest.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I was going upstairs,” he said. “Do you want to come with? It looks like the adults here are worse than children.”

She nodded eagerly, taking the hat off her head and stuffing it in her bag. She glared at her uncles while they laughed as the two of them walked towards the stairs at the back of the shop, Lily clinging to Fred’s waist.

“Are you here to see Roxy?” asked Fred as he opened the door to their flat. “I’m afraid she’s out running some errands.” He snorted at that, as if he didn’t believe she was doing that at all. “It’s just me and Mum.”

Lily’s eyes brightened up. “Hi, Auntie Angie!” she called as she walked into the flat. The mouth-watering smell of her aunt’s jerk pork with rice enveloped her as she made her way into the kitchen.

“Hi Lily,” said her aunt, with a smile. “What are you doing here?” She hugged her tightly and Lily hugged her back.

“Oh not much, just came to say hi,” she replied when she was released.

“Are you staying for lunch?” asked Aunt Angelina straight away, and Lily couldn’t help smiling at her.

“I don’t want to intrude,” she said, looking at the glaze-covered pork.

“You’re not intruding at all,” replied her aunt. “It’ll be ready in half-an-hour, but I’m afraid Roxy is not here.”

Fred tapped his fingers over the doorframe of the kitchen. “I just told her, Mum,” he said. “She came up anyway, of course, Dad and Uncle Ron were torturing her…”

Aunt Angelina snorted and shook her head, murmuring something under her breath about her husband being a child.

Fred smiled and nodded towards the corridor, and Lily followed him to his room with promises to Aunt Angelina of setting the table in twenty minutes.

“How’s it going, Lily?” asked Fred as she got comfortable on his bed, crossing her legs on the colourful quilt. “You look tanned; did you go to the beach?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “A couple of times, to Tinworth. And I once sat in the sun for hours when I went to see Hugo’s trainings. Why? Does it show?”

He nodded as he sat at his desk. “How is Hugo doing? I tried to talk to him on Sunday, but never seemed to find a moment,” he snorted. “What with Rose’s constant blabbering about her birthday.”

“She’s excited,” said Lily with a grin, “and I’m too. Twenty years old! Damn she’s old…”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh right, you’re even more ancient,” she grinned.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Don’t make me regret to have saved you from your uncles.”

She giggled. “You don’t work today?”

“It’s my day off,” he replied, “but I might go to the shop a couple of hours in the afternoon, just because Roxy said that she’s not sure she’ll be back for her afternoon shift.”

“Where is she again?”

Fred shrugged a shoulder. “She said she had stuff to do, but I think she’s seeing someone,” he told her, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible when he was probably dying to know who his little sister was seeing.

Lily grinned. “What? She’s seeing someone? Tell me everything.”

“I don’t gossip, I’m not a girl,” replied Fred, cocking an eyebrow. “And you have to pay me with the same currency if you want more information.”

“James’ girlfriend was the Burrow the other day, and Albus is still as alone as the Giant Squid,” she replied nonchalantly.

He grinned. “And what about you? I saw Auntie Ginny yesterday and she said someone has a date with her boss’ son.”

Lily’s jaw dropped. “Oh Merlin! My mum speaks too much!” she growled. “And it’s a non-date.”

“A non-date? Boring,” he replied before grinning. “What about Hugo? How many hearts has he broken yet?”

“None,” she replied a bit coldly. “He doesn’t have time for that kind of things. He’s busy with his trainings every day all day.”

“And the weekend?” asked Fred, with a mischievous smile. “He doesn’t have trainings on the weekend. And he never comes around to say hi, so I imagine he’s busy with someone. Some lady friend, maybe?”

“He is not,” replied Lily curtly. “He’s tired and then there’s Sunday lunch at the Burrow.”

Fred eyed her sceptically. “So you’re basically just a couple of boring young people, who at eighteen have the luck of living alone and just don’t do anything but work and sleep and eat all day?” he asked her.

She raised her chin, pushing the thought of her on the couch with Hugo between her legs at the back of her head. “Yeah,” she replied throatily. “Basically.”

***

On Wednesday afternoon, Lily felt rather more nervous than what she thought she would be.

She had to take a deep breath as the Leaky Cauldron came into view. Derek was already standing there, with big pieces of parchment tucked under his arm and eyes wide as he searched the crowd in the street for a sign of her arrival.

She hid behind a corner and leant against the wall. It was just coffee and it was just a non-date. Everything was going to be more than alright. She snorted. She knew that perfectly well: they were just going to talk. Then why on earth was she _that_ nervous?

She decided that it was all Hugo’s fault. He had come home for lunch, treated her to a generous portion of steak and kidney pie, and even brought home some cake. Then he had asked her if she wanted to go and see his trainings that afternoon. Three times. And every time he seemed to have forgotten that she had the non-date with Derek. He had left right before his trainings were starting – and had surely arrived late – and not before he had promised her to try to get home a bit earlier that night and that he would have loved to help her with the newest three letters she had gotten that morning.

If he was trying to make her feel guilty, he was succeeding big time.

She closed her eyes and tried to understand why she would feel guilty at all. She came to the conclusion that there was no reason for her to feel like that and finally started to make her way towards the Leaky Cauldron again.

A bright smile, which had the power to make her grin, painted over Derek’s face when he saw her. He raised a hand and waved almost nervously and she hurried past a crowd of children holding ice-creams.

“Hi,” he said when she reached him.

“Hi,” she replied, standing next to him but without touching him. Should she kiss him? Hug him? Shake his hand? She didn’t know, she waited for him to do something, but he didn’t move either, looking even more hesitant than she was.

“You look really nice,” he mumbled, flushing slightly as his eyes travelled over her yellow dress.

“Oh thank you,” she replied. “You look pretty neat yourself.” She nodded towards his white shirt and grey shorts and thought that he really did look neat.

“Thank you,” he said, blushing even more. “Shall we go in? I… I asked for a table, I arrived earlier and I…”

She nodded as he opened the door for her. “That was very clever,” she said. “I bet it’s full of people looking for a way to shelter themselves from the heat.”

It was, and Lily had just the time to wave to a giddy Neville before Derek guided her to a table in a secluded corner. “Is this one okay?” he asked anxiously. “I didn’t know what you preferred, if you wanted something closer to the door or if you wanted it to be in a quiet corner…”

She placed a hand over his arm as he moved the chair for her. “This one is perfect,” she assured him, and she felt him relax under her fingers. “I like that we can talk without being disturbed.”

He smiled and sat across from her, placing the pile of parchments under the table. “I hope you don’t mind if I put these here,” he said. “I need to bring them home to touch up some details.”

“Oh, are those drawings you need for the comic strips?” she asked, peering down at them.

He nodded. “Yes, if you want, I can show you some,” he said shyly, as if he wasn’t sure why she would have wanted to see them. “But they’re unfinished, you know… I mean, maybe you want to wait for me to finish them.”

She smiled as Claire brought them two menus. She didn’t pay the girl any mind though. “Whatever you feel comfortable with, Derek,” she said gently. “I’m happy to see them at any stage. I’m so bad at drawing, I’m sure I’ll just be in awe at whatever you show me.”

He smiled, looking reassured by her words. She opened the menu and started perusing it. Did she really want coffee?

“They have some really good ice-creams here,” said Derek, looking at his menu too. “Do you want to go crazy instead of having a coffee?”

She bit her bottom lip. “Ice-cream sounds brilliant,” she sighed, “but Hugo came home for lunch today and fed me till I almost couldn’t walk. He even got cake.” There was a pause: Derek didn’t comment and Lily tried to sum up the amount of calories she was having in one day. She decided that the actual question was if she cared at all. She didn’t. “Okay, let’s have an ice-cream!” she grinned, turning the page. “Hmm, I’ll get… Canary Cream and Treacle Tart.” She closed the menu and looked at Derek, who seemed to be staring at the menu without seeing it. “You know what to get?”

He blinked as if she had brought him back to reality. “Yes, yes,” he replied in a hurry. “Chocolate Frog and Pumpkin Pasty.”

They ordered and again Lily didn’t pay any attention to Claire’s rude ways, even when she took the menu from her hands with more force than necessary.

“Wow,” murmured Derek as she walked away, “she’s not very nice.”

Lily’s face brightened up. “Thank you,” she said. “I told that to Hugo the other night when we came in, but he wouldn’t even notice that she was being rude to me.” She snorted. “Bet it was because she was all over him.” She added a roll of her eyes for good measure. “Anyway, tell me something about you. How long have you been working at the Prophet?”

He smiled at her, probably grateful for having started a conversation. “Oh, seven years, ever since I finished Hogwarts,” he said.

“Which means that you’re… twenty-four?”

“Twenty-five,” he corrected her. “Do I look younger?”

“A bit.” She nodded.

“And you’re… twenty-one?”

She giggled. “Oh no, I’ve just finished Hogwarts as well,” she said. “I’m eighteen. Just turned a couple of months ago.”

He looked at her with eyes wide. “You’re eighteen?” he asked, paling a little.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Why? Do I look older? I’m usually told that I look younger.”

He shook his head frantically. “No, no,” he replied. “You do look younger than that. I mean… I just thought… I thought you were older… I mean you just finished like this month? You’re not going on holiday? Not taking some time after Hogwarts?” He swallowed and murmured, “You’re so young.”

She cocked her head, feeling as if he was having second thoughts about that non-date because of her age. Somehow, she felt offended by that, as if he considered her a child all of a sudden. “I’m an adult, you know,” she replied slightly more dryly than she had intended. “And I wanted to start working straight away; I spent a couple of weeks in France with my cousin and her family at the beginning of the month, and then moved in with Hugo and found the job at the Prophet.” She folded her arms across her chest. “And you said you started working straight away too.”

He swallowed again and nodded. Claire brought them the ice-creams and they murmured their thank you-s. “I spent the summer after my N.E.W.T.s in Paris,” he went on, “and then I was hired by my father. He wanted me to become a journalist, but I wanted to paint professionally. We compromised.”

She smiled gently at him. “Probably you compromised more than he did,” she said, as she closed two fingers around a little canary that was flying at the top of her ice-cream and tossed it in her mouth. It tasted of vanilla. “I’d love to see your paintings too.”

He smiled back. “I’ve got lots at my flat, I can show you one day.”

“Would love that,” she replied. She grabbed her spoon and started digging into the ice-cream, he did the same on the other side of the table. It was good, and certainly a better choice than coffee in that hot summer afternoon.

“So, what is exactly that you do at the Prophet?”

Lily stopped with the spoon in mid-air. She hadn’t thought about him asking that question at all. How stupid of her! She should have imagined that he was going to ask her about her job. She considered lying to him, but she didn’t want him to maybe go to his father and ask him what she was doing and then noticing that the two versions didn’t match. On the other hand, if he had wanted to know for real, he could have asked his father already. Or maybe he had asked him already! And he was just going to see if she would lie to him. Or maybe he was just doing some conversation…

“Lily?”

She looked at him and pushed the half-melted ice-cream into the bowl again. “Yes, sorry,” she said. “I… I’m taking care of Lavender’s Agony Aunt Column. _Ask Lavender_.” She sighed at that. “I wanted to become junior Quidditch correspondent, but that was the only job your father would hire me for…” She looked at him. “Not that I’m complaining! I just came out of Hogwarts; I know I have no experience, but I… I’m probably not the best choice for the column.”

“I read some replies recently,” he said gently. “I think they were very sensible and caring.”

She smiled weakly. “Thank you,” she replied. “Hugo helps me all the time. I couldn’t reply to a single letter, not even the easiest one, without his help.”

Derek took a deep breath. He pushed his spoon into the ice-cream too and lowered his eyes. “Lily,” he said, in a grave tone of voice. “I’m sorry, but I was given the impression that you were… well, single.” He stabbed the mountain of ice-cream a bit more forcefully. “Your… your mother told me you weren’t seeing anybody.”

“I’m not,” she replied promptly. “I am single.” What on earth was he talking about?

He looked at her, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief. “Well, if you’re not dating someone, I’m sure you’ll be soon,” he replied, a slight bitterness in his voice.

“What?” she asked. Was he talking about himself? How arrogant of him!

He looked at her. “It’s clear that you have feelings for this Hugo,” he went on. “We’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes and you’ve mentioned him four times already. And… you two live together?”

She blinked at his words. “Oh my word,” she muttered in disbelief.

“Yeah…” he replied, lowering his eyes.

“Oh my word,” she replied louder. “No, no, no. You got it all wrong.” She glanced around herself to make sure that Claire wasn’t around. “Hugo is my cousin!” she told him. “We share a flat and I barely see him. Yes, we’re close, but my family is very tightly-knitted, I’m close to all of my twelve cousins.”

Derek’s face seemed to paint first with relief and then embarrassment. “Oh,” was all he could say before he started stuffing his face with more ice-cream.

She looked at him, amusedly. Then something hit her. He had looked really hurt when he thought that she was dating Hugo, he really wanted something more out of this non-date. Lily swallowed, she wasn’t good at breaking hearts, she needed to keep the conversation on neutral ground.

“Do you have a big family?” she asked him as if they hadn’t just had those past five minutes of conversation.

He cleaned his mouth in a napkin and glanced at her, still flushed. “Not that big,” he replied, words slurred, probably because of his frozen tongue, “I’ve got two aunts and only one has children.” He looked at her and smiled. “Not big at all compared to yours.”

She nodded. “Yeah, and I’m the youngest one.”

“Aww, you’re the baby.”

“Yeah, and sometimes it’s cool,” she admitted. “Grandma always takes my side, for example, or I always got more presents than anybody else at Christmas because my older cousins got me something even when I was too little to give something back.” She sighed. “Some other times it wasn’t that cool. When I was growing up, for example, I was always excluded from gossiping and playing with the others because I was too young. And Hugo too, he’s only two months older than me and he was always left out as well.” She smiled at the thought of many afternoons spent at the Burrow, climbing up trees or swimming, just the two of them.

He smiled when she mentioned Hugo this time. “I see,” he said.

She nodded. “We got to spend a lot of time together, just the two of us,” she continued. “It was nice… except that day I fell off a tree and was brought to St Mungo’s.” She giggled. “My mother was furious with Dominque and Fred when Hugo told her that they were the ones who had told us to get lost earlier that afternoon and left two five-year-old without supervision. I’ve never seen my mum screaming that much, but maybe it was because we were at the hospital where everything is usually quiet …”

“I can’t really see your mum screaming,” he said thoughtfully. “She’s always so nice and she brings biscuits every time she has to drop in on a Saturday.”

“Well, she is nice,” said Lily slowly. “She’s also very talkative, extremely stubborn, especially with her brothers, always full of energy, she never stays still…”

“And you’re like her.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “They say that I am, but probably I take after my father a bit too,” she replied. “He’s quieter, and he can stand still for a bit longer than my mum.”

“I think you’re just as beautiful as she is,” he said softly.

Lily felt herself blushing, and Derek seemed to do that too. Probably the words had left his lips without him meaning to say them out loud.

“Th-thank you,” she stammered.

He nodded in reply and stuffed more ice-cream into his mouth. Lily did it too and, for a few minutes, all they did was eating quietly.

“Can I… hem, can I see some of your drawings?” asked Lily when the silence had become beyond awkward.

He looked relieved that she had brought that up. “Of course,” he said, bending over to grab one big piece of parchment from under the table. He pushed his almost empty bowl of ice-cream towards the other side and placed his drawings on the table. “These are for this weekend,” he explained. “I make them in advance because they’re longer, since my father doesn’t want to include the…” His voice trailed away as he seemed to think hard about what to say next.

“Ask Lavender,” said Lily. “I know, don’t worry, I’m glad I don’t have to work on a weekend.” She smiled at him.

He smiled back. “Good to know,” he said, “but yes, that’s why they are bigger.” He turned them over so that she could see them better and she stared at the little drawings.

“Hey! This is my uncle!” she exclaimed, pointing to a bespectacled middle-aged man. “Uncle Percy!” He was seated on a flying carpet, dressed like someone out of _One Thousand and One Nights_. “Oh, I get it! It’s because of the recent deal he had closed with India, right? The one about the flying carpets being introduced to Britain.”

Derek nodded, suddenly embarrassed again. “I… I thought that maybe if the deal didn’t work out, he would end up like this,” he admitted.

Lily looked at the comic again. Uncle Percy was flying with a flock of carpets behind him, as if he was leading them, apparently, away from Britain and towards India said a roughly drawn map in the background. “It’s funny,” she said, giggling. “I think it’s clever.”

He let out a breath of relief at that, and then started to show her all the comics he had, explaining the ones that she didn’t understand, and telling her the various techniques he had used for every scene.

She listened, enraptured. It was the first time that someone was giving her a lesson on art, and she loved it. She could get lost in every little line and every colour that he had used for the ones that would be published on the weekend.

“They’re lovely,” she said.

He shook his head dismissively. “You’re so sweet, thank you, but they’re definitely not art. I should show you the paintings I have at home, they are much better than these.”

“I really want to see them,” said Lily warmly.

He looked up at her, a soft smile stretching his lips. “Are you doing anything this Friday evening?” he asked her gently.

“Oh, I’ll probably go out with Hugo,” she replied simply, “and his friends. I haven’t asked him yet, but they always go out and I really had fun last time. We went to a pub and danced all night.”

He lowered his eyes again, and Lily noticed her mistake only then. “Oh, but… like… I’m free other days,” she added. “Another evening?” She swallowed. “Or afternoon…”

He nodded. “Of course,” he said, “whenever you’re free.”

She smiled. “Maybe next week?” she asked.

He smiled back at her. “How about next Saturday?”

Lily nodded softly. “Sounds perfect to me.”

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I have a problem. I fall in love so easily it’s ridiculous. All a girl has to do is look in my direction and smile and I find myself head over heels in love with her. I’m sixteen, I’ve never had a girlfriend before, and I imagine that things would be different if I had. Every time I make eye contact, I start babbling rubbish and become all red and then my mind is already projecting my future with said girl._
> 
> _Please, please, please, help me. I can’t take all this falling in love any longer._
> 
> _Always_in_Love_16_

***

When Lily got home that evening, Hugo was already there. The table had already been set and there was a delicious smell of pasta wafting around the place.

He almost dropped the pan where he was stirring the sauce when she entered.

“I was worried sick!” he snapped at her.

She looked at him from the door for a long moment before walking in. “I was with Derek,” she reminded him calmly, “and you know it.”

“It’s almost six!” he pointed out. “Your non-date was at four.”

“I know,” she replied calmly. “We talked for a while.” She looked at the many pans and pots on the hobs. “And we had a gigantic ice-cream, Hugo, I’m stuffed.”

His face darkened slightly. “Skipping meals is not healthy,” he let her know sourly.

She took a deep breath, trying hard not to snap back at him. “Alright, I won’t skip dinner,” she sighed, “but if I’m sick because I overate, it’s all your fault.”

“You can blame me,” he replied calmly before starting a torrent of questions. “How was the non-date? How was _he_? Did he touch you? Did he try to kiss you? Did he ask you out again?”

She pressed her lips together. “Wow, is this a questioning?”

“No,” he replied, “I’m just trying to make some conversation.”

She dragged herself to the table and sat down, facing Hugo as he kept working on the sauce. She furrowed her brow when she noticed some candles floating about and the good china – which she ignored they had – on the table. “He was a real gentleman,” she replied. “He didn’t try to touch me nor kiss me. I kissed his cheek when I left, and he didn’t ask me out again.”

Hugo seemed to let out the breath he was holding. “Good,” he said almost to himself.

“He asked me to go to his house to see his paintings this Friday evening,” she added as an afterthought, and she could see Hugo’s ears perking up again at that. “I told him that I actually wanted to go out with you and your friends again, I mean, if you—”

“Yes, of course yes!” he exclaimed a bit breathlessly. “We should go out, yes.”

She grinned. “Wicked,” she replied. “So I’m going next Saturday evening to see his paintings.”

Every muscle in Hugo’s body seemed to stiffen at that. “But we usually do things on Saturday,” he said coldly.

“Like what? Playing Wizard’s Chess and chatting?” she asked. “It’s not like we can’t do that every other evening.”

He looked at her with his cold blue eyes for a long moment before nodding curtly. “Of course,” he replied, turning away to fumble about with the pans. “As you wish. Maybe I’ll go out too, you know.”

She felt her heart skip a beat for some reason she couldn’t quite understand. “Great,” she murmured, her head filling with images of Hugo and Marie having dinner together and then holding hands and then snogging heatedly near a fireplace. In July.

A plate filled with pasta was suddenly placed in front of her. “Enjoy your meal,” said Hugo flatly, as he sat opposite to her and started eating.

She poked the delicious-looking mountain of linguine in front of her. It was hot and smelled divine. She rolled it carefully around her fork and brought it to her mouth. It was good, and it was warm and she chewed on it slowly, savouring it and wondering how long before she felt full. Well, fuller than this.

“Hey,” she said shyly as she swallowed the first morsel. “Can you help me with the letters?”

He took some time to reply, not looking at her as he pushed more pasta in his mouth and chewed on it with great calm. It was only after a few minutes that he took a deep breath and glanced at her. “Okay,” he said, smiling softly in defeat.

She grinned and stood to go and get the letters in her room. She could have Summoned them, but she would do anything – even a bit of movement! – to wait to swallow another bite. If she was lucky, she would distract him until he almost forgot that she hadn’t eaten much.

“There’s one about a teenager who keeps falling in love; one about a girl who ingested a poison by mistake, was cured and now she has to spend the whole summer inside, recovering, and needs some pastimes to fight boredom; and one about a little girl who is about to receive a Kneazle for her birthday and wants to know how to take care of it properly,” she said. “Which one first?”

“The Kneazle one,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’ve grown up with Kneazles; I can tell you everything you need to know.”

She nodded, grabbed her quill and looked at him expectantly.

He leant back against his chair and seemed to think. “How old is she?”

Lily looked down at the letter. “It’s for her eighth birthday,” she told him. “She’s got more luck than the other little boy with the Crup.”

“He was only five though.”

“Right,” she agreed. “So…?”

Hugo seemed to think back to Crookshanks II, Crookshanks III, Fluffy and Crookshanks IV and what he had done through the years to take care of them. Not much probably, Lily was sure that his mother had done most of the work. He looked at her. “First of all,” he started very seriously, “she has to prepare a nice bed for the kitten. Something warm and comfortable, and, at least at the beginning, something inside, maybe near her bed, if her mother lets her.” He seemed to think about it and added, “Not on her bed, though, unless she’s ready to have the Kneazle sleep there forever.” He smiled softly, probably at the thought of Fluffy and Rose. “Also, milk is essential. And Kneazle food, and she needs to give him fresh water every day.” He nodded. “It also needs lots of outside space where to go hunting, and she doesn’t need to get scared if the Kneazle brings back some dead or alive animals, that’s just nature.”

Once he was finished, Lily read through her notes again and nodded. “Sounds good,” she replied. “Shall I add something about loving and cherishing the animal? And about petting it?”

“She sounds excited enough if she asks Lavender about it,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

Lily took note nonetheless. “Letter two… the always in love teenager?” She grabbed the letter and passed it to Hugo.

He had more pasta as he read it and Lily nibbled at some of her own too, waiting patiently for him to be ready to tell her what he thought about it.

“Well, poor guy,” sighed Hugo. “Don’t I know the problem!” He placed the letter down and looked at Lily, furrowing his brow when he noticed her surprised expression.

“You?” she asked. “What are you talking about?”

He seemed to flush slightly. “Well, I’m shy.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I was shy,” he backpedalled.

“When?”

Hugo rolled his eyes as if he thought she was having him on. She wasn’t. She really couldn’t remember a time when Hugo had been shy. Of course, he didn’t like to be the centre of attention, but he was always surrounded by friends and family who thought he was awesome.

“When I was growing up,” he told her curtly. “I always felt out of place. Too tall, too weedy, too ugly, and that really didn’t help with girls.”

“And you fell in love with everybody?” she asked, eyes wide. She didn’t know he had felt like that.

He nodded warily. “Yeah,” he replied, “even talking to girls in my family was a bit of a torture. I always thought that they—”

“Even me?” asked Lily softly.

He looked at her, surprised by her question. “I don’t remember,” he murmured, his cheeks flushing slightly nonetheless.

“How can you not remember that?” she asked impatiently. It was something important; it hurt her to know that he had thought that it was a torture to talk to her.

“I just don’t,” he replied curtly. “Do you want help with the letters or not?”

She glared at him, but nodded.

He took a deep breath. “Alright,” he said, “I think you should tell him that no matter what he believes, girls are not as scary as he thinks. They share the same insecurities and the same fears that he does, and he can rest assured that many of them start thinking about their wedding day before the guy has even made eye contact.”

“True,” agreed Lily with a giggle. She remembered finding Victoire’s drawings of her and Teddy’s wedding from when she was still a toddler.

“He should also know that maybe he wants to start talking to girls when they don’t move around in a pack,” he went on. “One girl at a time. Tell him to try to calm down, breathe in and out, will his heart to beat at a steady pace, and then he can try to talk. Tell him to talk about things he knows, Quidditch is always good, school, the weather. Something easy and universal.”

Lily wrote the “L” of “universal” and looked up at Hugo, grinning. “Is that what you did?” she asked. “You talked about—hey! Wait a second; you did talk quite a bit of Quidditch with me!”

He rolled his eyes. “I did because you were my Seeker, and I was your Captain,” he pointed out, “and you like Quidditch.”

She had to agree to that. “Yeah, that’s right.” She pursed her lips. “Third letter?”

“Girl looking for pastimes?” he asked. “Apart from Exploding Snap, Wizard’s Chess and reading?” He seemed to think hard about it, then added, “Maybe you can connect that guy who keeps falling in love with the girl who is bed-ridden… you’d kill two birds with a stone.” He looked at her and smiled. “But I doubt you can do that…”

She looked from one letter to the other, eyes wide. “Oh but that’s brilliant!” she exclaimed. “I could do that! I have their addresses!”

Hugo seemed alarmed. “Lily, I don’t think you can disclose someone else’s address on the newspaper, especially not someone who is underage.”

“I’m not going to do that,” she replied excitedly. “I’m going to… to put a spell on the replies!”

“What are you talking about?”

She grinned wide. “I’m going to do something to their replies, something that only they can see,” she said. “Like, I’m going to have the other’s address appear only to them. Yes, I think it’s something that Aurors use, some kind of cryptographic spell or something, I think Al and James were talking about it. The page will show the replies to everybody else, but to these two, it’ll show first the reply and then a tiny little post-scriptum that I’ll add with the other’s address. I’m going to tell them to write to each other, that they both need a friend and that they’re perfect for one other!”

“That’s like being a matchmaker, Lily, not an Agony Aunt,” pointed out Hugo.

“Oh shush you,” she giggled. “It’s brilliant and it’s your idea, so you can’t say anything bad!” She looked at him, but he didn’t seem to find anything bad to say at all.

He smirked though and shook his head. “I can imagine the next letter you receive, _Dear Lavender, my daughter is pregnant, thanks to you and your matchmaking schemes!_ ”

She snorted as she started writing. “I’ll tell them that I want to be invited to the wedding,” she said and proceeded to ignore Hugo’s laughter as she prepared the replies.


	9. Chapter 9

***

Lily had just the time to walk into the newsroom when a memo flew right into her forehead. She blinked, grabbed it and straight away recognised her mother’s writing.

> _Come to my office as soon as you walk through that door._

She groaned so loudly that a couple of people next to her looked up from their articles to stare at her. She blushed and lowered her eyes as she made her way towards her mother’s office.

She knew perfectly well what her mother wanted to know. Her non-date had been the afternoon before and she surely wanted to question her about every little detail. _Was he nice? Did he kiss you? Did he ask you out again?_ He rolled her eyes; as if Hugo’s questioning hadn’t been enough the night before.

She envied Derek; surely, he didn’t have to put up with such nonsense from a family as small as his. And he was twenty-five, without a doubt, his father hadn’t questioned him about their non-date.

She walked past a woman who was dictating a last minute article to her Quick-Quotes Quill, and nodded to a couple of middle-aged men who were talking about politics.

She knocked softly on her mother’s door and her mother replied, “Come in,” before her knuckles had even left the wood.

Lily walked in, sighing warily as she closed the door at her back.

“Hi, Mum,” she said as she made her way towards one of the chairs. “Yes, the non-date went well. No, I didn’t kiss him, and we’re only going to see each other again because I want him to show me his paintings.” She looked at her and pouted. “Honestly, though! I’m eighteen years old; I should be able to go on a non-date without you wanting to know everything…”

Her mother looked at her as if she was an alien, and for a moment the idea that she hadn’t wanted to talk about _that_ crossed Lily’s brain.

“Oh yes,” said her mother, “you had your date with Derek. I forgot. How was it?”

“You forgot?” she growled. “Well, thank you, Mum, I feel very loved.” Why was she irritated if a minute before she was irritated for the opposite reason? She didn’t know.

“I need to talk to you,” said her mother seriously, patting her desk. No, not her desk. She was patting the Daily Prophet, or more precisely, she was patting the Ask Lavender page.

“You want to compliment me like Mr Quills did last week?” she asked her enthusiastically. “You love my insightful and sympathetic replies, don’t you?”

“Lily, Mr Quills asked me to talk to you,” she said softly, “about one of your replies.”

“Oh,” was all she could say. “Which one?” If she had made a tiny little mistake it was not that bad, was it? And why wasn’t he talking to her himself? Why did she need to be handled by her own mother like a child? That was definitely not very professional.

Her mother took a deep breath. “The one to _Scared Birthday Girl_ ,” she replied.

Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “Yeah?” she mumbled, her mouth dry. The one about the girl’s first experience with oral sex, which had marked Lily’s first experience with oral sex as well. “What about it?” she asked in a whisper.

“He thinks it was too graphic for the column,” she replied, “that you put too much of… your own.”

Lily felt her face burn. Surely, her mother wasn’t implying that she had described her own experience. “I didn’t,” she muttered, trying to sound irritated when she was just plain nervous. “The letter was about oral sex! What should I have talked about? Rainbows and ponies?”

Her mother raised a hand to calm her down. “That’s what I told him, and I told him that you were just thorough with your research, and that it was not a personal experience that you were talking about,” she said. Then she paused for a moment before she whispered, “Right?”

“Of course!” she almost shouted. Were the people who screamed always right? Or were they always wrong? She didn’t care, all she wanted now was to talk over her thoughts that kept whispering in her head that her mother knew about her and Hugo. _Shut up! There’s no Hugo and me!_ she thought frantically.

“Good, I’ll tell him that. I’ll explain the situation, I’ll tell him that you did your research _very_ thoroughly,” said her mother gently. “Don’t worry, Mr Quills can be a bit of a conservative when it’s up to these things, but he’s quite open after all.”

Lily’s face darkened and she nodded. “Can I go now?” she asked curtly.

Her mother looked almost frantic as she replied, “Yes, of course, but Lily don’t you worry, I’ll talk to him and everything will be just fine.”

She nodded again and stood up. She walked out of her mother’s office without a further word, and the idea of going to retrieve the letters in Lavender’s office was the last thing on her mind now. Instead, she strode towards Mr Quills’ office.

She knocked so forcefully, most people quietened and probably turned to stare, but she didn’t look at them. She practiced her darkest glare and didn’t wait for an invitation to come in, but just pushed the door open.

“How dare you question my professionalism!” she thundered as she stormed in there.

Then she stopped, and felt herself becoming suddenly very pale.

Mr Quills and Derek were both staring at her after her loud entrance.

“Excuse me?” asked Mr Quills calmly.

Lily swallowed, suddenly it didn’t seem such a good idea to have barged in there. “I… my mum said… she said you said something about… about one of my replies…” she mumbled.

“I did, Potter,” he replied curtly. “Ours is a family-friendly newspaper, some explicit replies are completely out of—”

“The letter was about oral sex,” Lily cut her boss off. “What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t lie or sugar-coat it for her.”

“I’m not telling you to sugar-coat or lie.”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m telling you to—”

“She’s right, Dad,” interjected Derek seriously. “If she gets a certain kind of letter, it’s only logical that she replies accordingly. You shouldn’t prevent her from doing her job. If you’d like to avoid this kind of correspondence to get to her desk, you should write at the top of her column that your newspaper doesn’t want to help people who have questions about sexuality.”

“Yes,” agreed Lily. “I agree. Completely.” She looked at Derek and saw that he was smiling at her, and she smiled back gratefully.

Mr Quills snorted something about youngsters, being in love, and being over-sexualised. Lily didn’t know if he was talking about the two of them or about the letters she got.

“Oh well,” grunted Mr Quills. “Seems like you’re all against me.” He glared from Lily to Derek. “You, your mother, my own son…”

“We’re not,” Lily hurried to reply. “It’s just that, I mean, she sounded so scared and I wanted to be thorough in my reply and give her as much information as I could to let her be able to—hey! Wait a second! What did Lavender do when she got a letter like that?”

“She threw them away,” growled Mr Quills. “As I told her to do, and as I told her to tell you to do. Evidently, her dizziness became even worse with her pregnancy.”

“But that’s irresponsible!” stated Lily. “Take this girl, for example, she needed someone to tell her how she would have felt in a situation like that, so that she could decide what to do, if she wanted to go through with it or not. She needed to make an informed choice and I just enabled her to do so.”

Mr Quills looked at her, he seemed irritated and, for a moment, Lily thought that he was going to fire her. She felt irritated, too, rather than scared, though, for she knew she was right and that his arguments were simply ridiculous.

“Dad?” Derek called him after a long pause.

“Alright, alright,” he grunted in the end. “You may continue to reply to _those_ letters.”

Lily grinned from ear to ear. “Thank you, Mr Quills!” She glanced at Derek and saw that he was looking at her with a grin on his face as well. He looked almost proud of her for some reason.

“But,” continued Mr Quills, “we’re going to print out any raunchy letter in red, so that people will know what to expect from those and will be able to decide what to read. Just put an asterisk at the top of the letter, I’ll send a memo to Mike about it.”

She wanted to reply that her letters were not raunchy at all, but she was convinced she had done quite enough, so she kept quiet. She nodded instead. “Thank you, Mr Quills,” she repeated. “I’m receiving more letters this week, too, you know? Three every day!”

“Good, good,” he replied dismissively. “Go and do some work, now, Potter.”

“Okay,” she said. “Bye Derek,” she added cheerfully as she walked out of the door.

“I’ll see you around,” he told her and kept smiling until she had turned away and exited the office.

***

The weekend couldn’t come quick enough. Lily felt the past week had been more intense than she had expected. On one hand, her non-date had gone remarkably well, and she was actually looking forward to their next non-date. On the other hand, Hugo had been rather cranky and prone to some unexpected angry outbursts every time she tried to mention Derek at all.

Except on Friday. He had left her a nice note with a great cooked breakfast that morning, where he reminded her that they were meeting at six outside the stadium to go to the pub. He told her how much he was looking forward to that and had said that Marie was also excited to see her. And McLaggen too, as well as all the others.  

Then she had started to find little notes all around the house. One in the bathroom that reminded her how pretty she was. One in the living room, where he wanted her to know that he was looking forward to helping her with the letters again. One in her room, where he had written to wear anything she wanted because she always looked good.

“Honestly, Hugo,” she murmured, smiling and blushing even when she was alone. He certainly felt as if he had something to apologise for, and she liked the way he did that. She hid all four notes in a notebook and placed it under her pillow, to read them again when she felt down.

She was looking forward to that evening, too. She was looking forward to seeing all his friends, eating, drinking, and dancing all night. Just like they had done the week before. And she was also looking forward not to wearing shorts and a top and a pound of sun cream on her face, like the previous week.

She went to the newsroom right after breakfast, dropping off her letters and picking up the new ones without even reading them. There were three of them, there had been three letters every day for the whole week and she was just happy that she had a tangible proof that her column was successful. Of course, it might be that the column had always been more successful during summertime – what with people having more time and youngsters being home from school – but she doubted that Mr Quills knew that anyway, so she made a mental note to remind him that next time he had something to say about her replies.

What was great, though, was that Hugo had been very supportive. She had expected him to shake his head and tut when she told him about the confrontation she had with her boss, but instead he had grinned and told her how proud of her he was, that her reply wasn’t raunchy at all, and that nobody could ever imagine that she was talking about her own experience. Certainly not her mother.

She had felt much better after that.  

After the newsroom, she had gone back home with the single-minded intention of getting ready for the evening. _Yes_ , even when it was still morning. She didn’t know why she felt that nervous about the outing with Hugo and his friends. She just knew that the first time had been so enjoyable for her that she just wanted to have another pleasant evening.

She rummaged through her clothes, thinking that maybe that day was the right day to finally unpack the rest of her stuff, but she shoved that thought at the back of her head almost instantaneously. She had to find a nice outfit for the evening, that was her priority.

She had all sorts of clothes and dresses, for all sorts of seasons and occasions. Her mother always joked that she could open a dress shop herself, and that she would be more successful than Madam Malkin’s. Of course, her mother didn’t take into consideration that genetics hadn’t been particularly kind to Lily, and not many people had her size – the ‘pixie size’ as her cousins sweetly called it, or the ‘garden gnome size’ as her brothers had dubbed the clothes that she used to leave around Grimmauld Place.

Well, she couldn’t reach the highest shelves nor look anybody in the eyes – “Except Kreacher!” Al always said– but who cared when she had a wand and people bent down a little to talk to her? Moreover, when she was angry, she looked like a four-foot-nine giant anyway.

“Argh! I don’t have anything!” she suddenly whined aloud. She had covered the floor of her room with clothes as she went through her wardrobe. “No, no, no,” she muttered, “nothing. I need to do some shopping!”

***

“Really, Lily,” sighed Molly as she leant back against the wall and looked at her cousin. “You have more clothes than I will ever own in all my life.”

“Not true,” she replied lightly, turning to look at her reflection from every angle. “I don’t have that many and they are all ugly.”

“You say that every month,” pointed out Molly. “I’m sure they are perfectly fine.”

She ignored her. “How do I look?” she asked, turning to look at Molly with eyes wide and hands fidgeting in her lap. “Is it too bright? Too long? Too flimsy?”

Molly furrowed her brow. “It’s a bit too fancy for a night out at the pub with your cousin and his friends,” she replied truthfully. “I mean, it’s definitely not too long, flimsy enough with that voile, and that green is not too bright.” She looked at her from head to toe. “But it’s a really pretty dress, it’s a dress for some kind of event, a Christening maybe or a summer party.”

Lily turned to look at her reflection again. “It’s perfect,” she replied. “Last time I was wearing shorts and a top, I looked like a foundling compared to the others.

“And that’s why you’ve got to look like a little princess now?” she asked as Lily got back into the changing room. “And it’s only Hugo, honestly… it’s not like you’re going on a date with your boss’ son…”

Lily let out a whine. “Is there anyone at all who doesn’t know?”

“Lucy didn’t know, but I told her, don’t worry,” she giggled.

“I hate you, Mols,” said Lily in her sweetest tone.

“Oh come on,” she giggled, moving the curtain of the changing room aside to peek at Lily. “Your mother said that he’s handsome and tall and a gentleman, what more do you want?”

“I don’t know,” she replied, struggling to wear her jeans as she jumped about the small space. “I like him, but he’s not… I don’t know… he’s not fun…”

“You’re fun enough for both of you.”

Lily glared at her; she pulled at her jeans a bit more forcefully and fell into a heap of limbs and clothes on the carpet-covered floor.

“See? You’re fun,” laughed Molly, stretching a hand to help her up.

“Shut up,” she replied as her cousin helped her to her feet. “I just don’t want a relationship, Mols. He is nice and all, but I just don’t feel like I want to find someone at this very moment. I’m happy where I am: living in my own flat, working at the Prophet, going out in the evening. I don’t need to complicate things.”

“Love doesn’t complicate things,” replied Molly. “Love is exciting, it’s beautiful, it makes life better.”

Lily snorted at that. Love had always complicated things for her. “Maybe I’ll wear the dress when I go to Derek’s house, too,” she said lightly, retrieving it from the hook where she had momentarily hung it.

“Second date at his house,” giggled Molly. “The guy is serious.” She placed a hand on Lily’s shoulder as they made their way towards the counter. “Don’t be too rough when you step on his heart, Lils.”

***

Lily had used one of Rose’s charms to comb her hair. She had stuck little flowers in it, had braided some locks and curled some others, and now her head was vaguely reminiscent of that of a hippy girl from the seventies. She had water and sweat-proofed her makeup and had worn the dress she had bought that afternoon. She did look very _springy_ , she had to admit that, but it was perfect for a warm July night. She wore sandals and pushed her wand and a fistful of Galleons in her pockets.

She checked her reflection, puckered her lips to send herself a kiss and nodded, happy with the result. She turned away and then turned again towards the mirror, this time to check her arms. She flexed them, but they remained the two sticks that she had had all her life. Honestly, she had played some Quidditch at school, why did she have no muscles at all? She snorted and turned away again. Who cared, right? Just because she was about to go out with a group of super muscled boys and toned girls, it didn’t mean that she would have stood out amongst them because of her ridiculous physique.

She turned away again and finally decided that it was time to go. She crossed her flat, locked the door, walked to the Apparition Point, and thought intensely of the stadium in River Piddle. “The main door,” she muttered under her breath.

She closed her eyes, felt the familiar tug of Apparition pulling behind her navel, and when she opened them again, she was standing right in front of the door, and a group of people were waiting a few feet away from her. She looked at them and noticed that she could recognise them all, even though she didn’t really remember their names.

“Hi Lily!” greeted a young man with sandy hair. “So good to see you, Hugo said you were coming!”

“Hi,” he replied, smiling as she made her way to them. “It’s good to see you too.”

“Oh, you are breath-taking,” said a girl whose name was Julia, that was all Lily could remember. “Merlin, I love your dress!”

She smiled again. That was why she liked those people so much. “Thanks,” she replied. “I got it at Madam Malkin’s.”

“Lily! Lily!” Someone threw herself at her, and she found a pair of strong arms wound tightly around her waist. “I missed you this week!”

Lily laughed at Marie’s enthusiasm and tried to hug her back, but it was awkward in that position. “I missed you too,” she grinned. “I’m so glad I’m here.”

“And look at you,” said Marie, stepping back to look at her properly. “You look stunning. You look like a doll.”

Lily tried to smile at what Marie obviously thought was a compliment, but it really wasn’t at all for her. Like anything that implied that she was short and tiny. “Thanks,” she replied stiffly.

“Oh no, Marie, don’t tell her that she looks like a doll. She hates that,” chuckled Hugo as he made his way towards them. He looked good too, in his clean white shirt and khaki trousers.

Lily blushed and looked at Marie. “I don’t, don’t worry,” she assured her, but Marie was already looking crestfallen.

“I’m so sorry, I meant that like a compliment,” she hurried to say. “Because you are so small and cute.”

She grinned, “cute” was definitely a compliment that she liked more than “doll”, “small” not so much, though. “Thank you,” she repeated warmly. “You look cute too in that top.” And she really meant that, Marie was looking very pretty that evening, even prettier than the first time she had seen her, and Lily was glad she had bought that new dress.

“Hey Potter,” said McLaggen, nodding towards her. “You dressed up for me?”

“You wish, McLaggen,” she replied, sticking out her tongue.

People laughed around them and McLaggen replied something to her, but Hugo had already wrapped an arm around her shoulders and the whole group of people was moving on from the stadium. “You look beautiful,” murmured Hugo as they walked a bit farther away from the others.

She looked up at him, beaming. She was right about to thank him and repay the compliment, when Marie snatched her away again. “I hope you’re ready for the crawl,” she said cheerfully. “I haven’t had one in months.”

“The crawl?” asked Lily, she had thought they were going to the same pub of two weeks before, not that they were going to _crawl_. Whatever they meant with that.

“You know, Marie, I don’t think it’s such a good idea,” said Hugo seriously. “Lily and I are really not heavy drinkers.”

“Oh shush you,” replied Marie with a laugh. “You’ve already said that you’ve never had one, so you _have to_ have one at least once in your life.”

“I’ve never had one either,” interjected Lily. “What’s that?”

Marie grinned so wide Lily felt compelled to smile too, for some reason. “Oh it’s the best thing ever,” she replied. “It’s so much fun. Honestly. Right, McLaggen?”

“So much fun,” he agreed, winking at Lily.

“First thing first, we’re going to have dinner at the Black Cat, the only Wizarding restaurant in River Piddle,” she explained. “And you better fill yourself up, Lily; it’s going to help you hold your liquor later on.”

She bit her bottom lip. She hadn’t imagined they were going to get drunk. Not that she was unhappy with that turn of events, but she was a bit scared to make a fool of herself in front of Hugo’s friends.

Hugo seemed to read some kind of discomfort on her face, because he interjected dryly, “Having something in your stomach is not enough to hold your liquor, Marie. She’s small too, and she doesn’t drink very often, she’s not accustomed to lots of alcohol.”

“Oh don’t be a spoilsport,” replied Marie. “You’re going to be more than fine, Lily. We’ll take care of you.”

Lily felt reassured by Marie’s tone of voice. “Yeah, don’t be a spoilsport,” she repeated, placing a hand on Hugo’s arm to squeeze it playfully. “So we just go and get drunk?”

“That’s the fun part,” said Marie. “We go from pub to pub and get one drink in every place. Only one, and then we move on to the next one.”

“You can also get something non-alcoholic,” pointed out Hugo.

McLaggen slapped his head playfully. “I think he doesn’t want to take care of you in case you are pissed, Potter,” he laughed. “Don’t worry; we’ll take care of you.”

“Exactly,” said Julia from somewhere behind them.

“Yeah,” agreed Marie, “and it’s fun if everybody gets the same thing. A shot of Firewhisky here, a glass of Elf Wine there, you know…”

Lily nodded seriously. “I understand,” she replied. “It sounds like fun.”

“And if you manage to get to the last pub still on your legs,” said a guy behind them, “honour and glory to you.”

There was more laughter and Lily laughed too, ready to prove herself in front of them.

“There are ten pubs in River Piddle,” continued Marie. “Only four are Wizard-run, though. Is that a problem?”

Lily looked at her a bit confused. “What? Oh no, why would it be a problem?”

“You know how to behave around Muggles, don’t you?” asked McLaggen with a chuckle.

“Of course,” replied Lily. “Hugo’s grandparents are Muggles and I get along perfectly well with them.”

“Wicked,” exclaimed Marie. “Let’s go and have dinner first. I am starving.”

Everybody agreed and soon they were all making their way towards their first stop: the Black Cat Restaurant.

***

The Black Cat was fairly posher than Lily had expected. And more expensive too. Apparently though, it could afford to be, because it was the only Wizarding restaurant in town and during Quidditch season wizards and witches who didn’t feel comfortable eating at Muggle places only had one choice.

It was a good restaurant, but since the portions looked microscopic on the nearby tables, McLaggen had the brilliant idea to ask for a big plate of grilled meat to put in the middle and that would serve forty people. There were only twenty-eight of them that evening, but they knew that lying a bit about the number of their party would only provide bigger portions for them.

Lily was seated between Julia and Marie, with Maggie – the third and only other girl who was training to join Puddlemere – in front of her. The ladies seemed happy to have created that little girly recess, while the guys were chatting and laughing at the other end of the table.

“Shall we start with some alcohol straight away?” asked Marie, grinning mischievously and lowering her voice as she brought her head closer to Lily. “Just to make the waiting for the food less boring.”

Lily bit her bottom lip and glanced at Hugo, but he was facing the other way, talking to someone about probably some kind of Quidditch tactic. She was a bit annoyed with him for the way he treated her in front of his friends. As if she was a baby, just like everybody else in their family did. She brought her head closer to Marie and smiled, about to tell her that yes, a good bottle of wine would marry beautifully with the grilled meat, when Julia tutted from her seat. “Don’t be ridiculous, Marie,” she said. “We’re getting Butterbeer now. We’ll drink enough later.”

“Yeah,” agreed Maggie, “and they’re going to bleed us dry for a bottle of wine in here.”

Marie sighed in defeat and Lily looked at her sympathetically.

The Butterbeers were cold and refreshing, and the meat was abundant, juicy and grilled to perfection. There were chips and roasted potatoes with those ribs and sausages and entrecotes. And creamy sauces and herbs.

Two young men even engaged in some sort of funny duel for the last piece of chicken, and the girls laughed so loud that one of the waitresses glared at them. Lily didn’t know if she was eating a lot or very little, she didn’t know if she felt full or if she was still hungry; she was too distracted with the chatting and laughing and nodding sympathetically when one of the girls brought up some relationship problem or girl-related difficulties that made the trainings all the harder.

“Are you going to be the one to interview whoever makes it to the team?” asked Maggie excitedly. “Hugo said you work for the Prophet, that you want to become a Quidditch correspondent.”

Lily nodded. “That’s what I’d like to become,” she said. “But for now I’m just an assistant. Probably the current Quidditch correspondent will come to write a piece about the trials.”

“That’s your mum, isn’t it?” asked Marie. “Ginny Potter, the Quidditch correspondent and ex Harpy Chaser, right?”

Lily nodded again, not sure about what to reply. They seemed to have done their homework about Hugo’s family.

“Do you play Quidditch?” asked Julia.

Lily nodded reluctantly.

“Maybe we can have a friendly game next weekend. What position do you play?”

“Oh God, more Quidditch in the weekend?” complained Maggie. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Marie laughed. “That’s the spirit to make it to the team, Mags.”

Maggie rolled her eyes, but laughed too.

“So?” asked Marie, grabbing a rib with two fingers and placing it on top of her chips.

Lily felt the three girls staring at her even as she stared at her plate. “I don’t think I’d be at your level,” she admitted. “I haven’t played since May and I wasn’t exactly the best even back then.”

“Position?” Julia asked again.

“Seeker,” she replied. “I’m good at spotting the Snitch, but I’m not really fast.”

Julia shrugged a shoulder. “It’s a friendly game, we’ll tone it down,” she replied. “Come on, it’s going to be fun.”

“Yeah, and I’ve got a reasonably-sized pitch at the back of my parents’ house,” said Marie, “and they always complain that it’s there and nobody uses it.” She cleaned her fingers on a napkin and smiled. “Come on, next Saturday.”

“I’ll ask Hugo,” she said, glancing in his direction. “If he wants to go…”

“And even if he doesn’t,” suggested Julia with a grin. “He doesn’t decide for you, does he?”

She chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds. “No,” she replied softly. “He doesn’t.”

“Cool then!” The girls cheered and asked for more Butterbeer, but someone on the far end of the table told them that it was time to go. Outside it was dark already, and they wanted to make it to the last pub before dawn.

“Those who can make it to the last pub,” laughed a young man, winking at the girls.

“I bet we’ll be the ones carrying you around, Tom,” retorted Julia with a laugh.

Then they asked for the bill and split the money rigorously, and finally they were free to start their adventure in the dimly lit streets of River Piddle and through its pubs.

Marie linked arms with Julia and Maggie and started a serious discussion about what pub to hit first. Lily tried to keep up with both their conversation and their reasoning – quality of drinks, position of the pubs, prices – but then a hand closed around her shoulder and she was pulled back a little.

“Hey,” said Hugo with a grin.

“Hey,” she replied excitedly. “I’m going to play Quidditch, next Saturday.”

He blinked, surprised. “You are?”

She nodded. “Yeah, at Marie’s house,” she said. “A friendly game. Are you coming?”

He furrowed his brow. “Are you sure?” he asked her. “They’re pretty brutal, especially Marie, she’s a wicked Beater, I don’t think—”

“Oh come on,” she replied, wriggling free of his hand. “I’m not made of glass. I’m going, and that’s final. I’ll just have to get home not too late, because I have to get ready to see Derek in the evening.” She was well content to be that busy on the weekend, she felt like one of those socialites she read about on Witch Weekly.

He rolled his eyes at her, but Marie called her name and she hurried to join the girls, not paying Hugo any mind.

“First stop, the Beheaded Witch,” announced Julia to the crowd. “And first drink… a shot of Firewhisky, to start nice and strong.”

“Shouldn’t we start with the Muggle pubs?” asked Tom. “That way we don’t have any drunk witch taking out her wand in front of the Muggles to hex whoever’s fondled her arse.”

The girls exchanged a glance and nodded and sighed, remarking that there was some logic in that suggestion.

“Right,” said Maggie, “the King and the Dragon, then? And we’ll have a shot of Tequila. How about that?”

There was a murmur of agreement throughout the crowd and finally they started making their way towards the first pub.

“You know how to drink Tequila, Lily?” asked Julia.

She shook her head, blushing a little for her inexperience and surprised that there was a way to drink a certain drink. “I’ve never had it, I’m sorry.”

“It’s so much fun,” exclaimed Maggie. “You lick your hand, pour salt on it, lick it, drink the shot and then suckle on a slice of lemon.”

“You lick your hand?” asked Lily, eyes wide.

The girls giggled. “Just a stripe is enough to make the salt stick to it,” said Marie, “and then you lick it away. It’s fun and it makes the alcohol feel less strong in your mouth. So you can have more.”

“But we’re going to have only one,” pointed out Julia, winking at Lily.

She nodded and they talked and laughed all the way to the first pub.

It was a nice, little construction made of stone and with an old, colourful sign over the door. The place was small and they had to take turns to get in there and buy the drinks. Older people were playing darts in a corner, and nodded and smiled at them when they walked in.

Lily stood at the counter waiting for her drink with the girls, McLaggen, and Hugo.

“Lick, salt, lick, drink, lemon,” Marie reminded her with a grin.

She did as she was told. She licked a stripe from her wrist to her pointer, poured salt from the saltshaker on it, waited for her drink and once they all had a shot glass of tequila in front of them, they licked away the salt, drank the liquor, and suckled on the slices that had been placed on the counter.

She almost couldn’t feel the alcohol at all, but she liked that little ritual and almost hoped to get another one; then again the other people there were already fishing out pounds from their pockets and paying. She didn’t have any pound with her, but McLaggen dropped one shiny coin into her hand before she could panic.

“My treat,” he grinned, but turned away before she could even thank him, distracted by someone who was pointing towards a dart board.  

“Did you like it?” asked the girls as they walked out and some others walked in to get their drinks.

She nodded excitedly. “It was fun,” she exclaimed.

The girls laughed at that. “We’ll see if we can have more later on,” proposed Marie.

“I think one’s enough,” stated Hugo. “It’s very alcoholic.”

The girls giggled, while Lily blushed and glared at him.

“Is he always such a good boy?” asked Marie, going to him to wrap an arm around his waist. “Or only when his little cousin is around?”

“It didn’t feel that alcoholic,” snorted Lily. “I’m perfectly fine anyway.”

“It’s 40% alcohol,” said Hugo dryly.

“Oh,” was all Lily could reply to that. That was _very_ alcoholic. But it was just a shot, really, she could get one or two more that evening and surely they wouldn’t have affected her that much.

“And you can get inventive with the places where you lick the salt,” giggled Marie. She looked up at Hugo and smiled almost mischievously. “Someone else’s chest for example,” she said.

Hugo chuckled at that, but Lily wasn’t that amused. She narrowed her eyes as she observed Marie’s hand on Hugo’s hip and then her flirty expression.

“Let’s go,” said someone and they all started to walk away. “Next stop, the Lion’s Head. We’ll get a pint of beer, the Muggle type.”

The next pub was bigger and they all fitted inside. The guys had a contest about who could drink the pint in one gulp, and Lily cheered the loudest when Hugo was amongst the ones who did it. The girls decided that it was time for the first toilet stop, and they all went to powder their nose in group.

“This is fun,” said Lily as she washed her hands.

“I know, right?” giggled Marie.

There was more giggling and more chatting and Lily felt rather happy to be there with these people. They were fun and they treated her as if she was one of them.

The third pub was called the Boar’s Head and they had a glass of rum; then there was The Stag Inn and vodka was what they had to order there.

Lily was glad that the fifth one was finally a Wizarding pub, because her head was light now, and her words more slurred than before, and she was fluctuating between being afraid of saying something that she shouldn’t and not really caring that much.

“Firewhisky!” bellowed McLaggen, his voice sounded almost deeper than usual to Lily’s ears. “For everybody.” He slapped a hand on the counter and the others laughed while the innkeeper just rolled his eyes.

Lily wasn’t quite sure how she found her fingers wrapped around a glass of Firewhisky, but someone must have pushed it in her hand. She looked at the liquid, blinked, and brought it to her lips, her movements slower than usual.

A hand closed over her wrist and guided her glass down again. “You don’t have to, if you don’t feel like it,” Hugo almost had to scream over the loud music in that pub.

Lily blinked at him just like she had blinked at the glass. She didn’t have to, that was a nice notion. She felt a bit weird, warm inside and a little unfocused on the extremities. Hugo looked fine though, why did he look fine? She suddenly felt angry with him, but the feeling probably didn’t pass onto her face because she couldn’t register any changing.

“Oh come on,” said Marie, placing her own hand on Hugo’s. “She can handle it.”

Lily looked at Marie, she too looked way less hammered than what Lily felt. A sluggish smile tugged her lips and she nodded. Then she brought the glass to her mouth and knocked down the Firewhisky. It didn’t taste as strong as she remembered, or maybe her mouth was desensitised, but she felt it pouring in every cell of her body and numbing up her extremities even more.

She blinked again and suddenly someone was dragging her away and towards the restroom.

“You know what?” was saying Marie, and Lily was sure that her friend had said something before that, but she didn’t quite know what.

Lily blinked from her place next to the mirror; her knuckles were white for the amount of pressure she was putting in the hand she had wrapped around the edge of the basin to keep herself up.

“Julia thinks that Hugo is fit,” giggled Marie as she checked her makeup in the mirror.

“Marie too,” slurred Julia with a laugh. “She said she’d give him a blowjob any time.”

Marie laughed too and Maggie as well. Lily wanted to laugh with them but the words didn’t make sense to her. Or they did, but she didn’t like them.

“But he is fit,” said Marie. She turned from the mirror and looked at Lily. “Isn’t he fit?”

“It’s her cousin, Marie,” giggled Maggie. She unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Lily and pulled her away from the basin. Lily felt a bit nauseous at the sudden movement, but couldn’t find the words to express that. “You’re so cute, Lily,” she whispered. “I wish I was gay just to kiss you.”

Lily thought that it was a good moment to smile and she let out a giggle at that.

“But Hugo is fit, isn’t he, Lily?” insisted Marie, her voice only slightly slurred. “Don’t you think that too?”

Lily furrowed her brow, then nodded. “He’s fit,” she slurred.

The girls burst into laughter at that and Lily with them, even if she didn’t understand why.

“You need to tell him,” giggled Marie.

Lily smiled softly; Marie’s face went out of focus for a moment. “No,” she slurred, lowering her eyes.

“Yes,” urged the girls, “come on…”

She wanted to shake her head and refuse, but they were dragging her out of the restroom and back into the pub. The others were either sitting or standing, and they all turned to look at them and chuckled when they started to ask where Hugo was.

“It’s for Lily,” giggled Marie, pulling her through the crowd.

“I’ll take you home, Lily,” said someone, but she didn’t know who. Laughter followed that, but they had already moved forward.

Then, unexpectedly, she found herself pushed down on someone’s lap, she placed her hands on a white shirt to steady herself and two big hands closed over her hip. “Are you alright?” asked Hugo, his voice was low but it was steady in her ears.

“She has to tell you something,” laughed Marie.

Lily looked up at her and smiled sluggishly before turning to look at Hugo. She couldn’t really see him that well, his face was out of focus. He brought it closer to hers, until she could feel his warm breath on her neck when he murmured, “Do you want to go home?”

She kind of wanted to go home, but that was not what she had to tell him. The other girls were laughing, but she didn’t know if they were laughing at her or not. She lowered herself against him, leaning her head on his shoulder; she wrapped her arms around his neck. He was warm and comfortable and she just wanted to stay there for the rest of her life, against his chest, with his hands all over her body.

She raised her face a little, until her lips touched his ear. “I think you’re fit,” she slurred in his ear before lowering her head again. She closed her lips against his neck and kissed him, then she kissed him a bit further down on his pulse point, and then again.

“Lily,” he murmured, and she didn’t know why, but he sounded a bit nervous and throaty as he said her name.

But then she was pulled to her feet again. “Time to go,” said Julia as she secured a hand around her wrist and dragged her forward.

Lily tried to follow her, but she was unstable on her legs and next thing she knew she was grabbing someone else’s hand not to fall down.

“That’s enough,” came Hugo’s voice and even in her intoxicated state she could understand that he was angry. “I’m taking her home.”

“She doesn’t want to go home,” giggled Marie. “And we’re late; we need to get to the next pub.”

“She’s hammered already,” replied Hugo. Then his hand slid over her waist and Lily just sagged against him, her hand grasping his shirt as if her life depended on it. “I’m taking her home.”

“Ask her what _she_ wants to do,” said someone. Then a boy stood in front of her and cupped her cheeks to make her look up at him. “Do you want to go home and sleep or do you want to come with us and have fun?”

Lily’s eyes were heavy, but having fun always won over sleeping, didn’t it? She smiled and nodded.

“Have fun?” asked someone.

She nodded again.

People laughed around her, she smiled again and then the cool air of the evening hit her face and she thought that she liked it more than the stuffy air of the pub.

The next pub was so small, the innkeeper brought their drinks outside. Dragon Barrel Brandy was given to them in big goblets and someone placed their hand over Lily’s to guide her glass to her mouth.

It didn’t taste like anything and she didn’t think it was that fun. She only felt the urge to find a place where to lie down now, she wanted to throw up because her stomach hurt and her head was swimming. She needed to find someone or something to lean against, because the girls had moved away from her now, and she felt a bit alone and unstable in that crowd.

Her eyelids drooped, she felt like falling and suddenly she was raised from the ground. She leant her head against someone’s chest and then she was carried away.

“Oh come on,” said someone close to them.

“She was just having fun.”

“Lily, don’t go!”

Her saviour ignored them. “Lily, I’m taking you home, okay?” said Hugo firmly.

She nodded and sagged in his arms, and he squeezed her against his chest.

The Apparition was rougher on her stomach than she had expected, but Hugo’s hand as he kept her hair away from her face while she threw up in a corner of Diagon Alley and the arm around her waist that kept her upright were an immense comfort.

She leant against the wall and was only vaguely aware of him Vanishing her vomit before he took her in his arms again.

She babbled something to him, she didn’t exactly know what it was or if he heard at her at all. But she was sure she had said, “sorry,” more than once and, “I love you,” even more often.

He didn’t reply, though.

Her bed was comfortable and wobbly at the same time. He laid her down and covered her with a blanket. Then he bent down to kiss her forehead.

She stretched a hand to grab his wrist. “Don’t go,” she murmured sleepily, her voice seemed less slurred after she had thrown up. “Please, I don’t like it.”

“What, Lily?” he whispered, so close to her she could feel every word on her cheek. “What don’t you like?”

“Stay until I fall asleep,” she murmured, “please…”

He didn’t reply, but there was a dip in the mattress and then she could hear his soft breath on her pillow.

She wormed a bit closer to him. “I love you,” she murmured again. And then she fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is your friendly warning for... SMUT! Not an extremely long scene, but it's smutty nonetheless.. ;) Hope you enjoy! Have the loveliest of weekends, my fellow Lugo shippers! x

***

When Lily opened her eyes, she felt like her temples were about to explode. The sun behind the curtains was definitely too bright, and the silence in the flat too deafening.

She ached everywhere, her stomach, her head, even one ankle for some reason that she couldn’t understand. Not that she wanted to try to understand. She remembered flashes of the night before and even though everything seemed wrapped in loud music and laughter and colourful drinks, she was sure that something had not been quite right.

She barely remembered what had happened. Only that there might have been screaming near her, but it was probably just normal people trying to talk over the music.

She pushed the sheets away and found herself still in her green dress. Her head was spinning as she sat up, and she blindly looked for a hangover potion like last time, but there wasn’t any on her bedside table.

She groaned, and wondered if Hugo was angry with her. Then stopped and widened her eyes. What had happened the night before? She remembered Hugo’s body, tall and firm and warm next to hers, and she remembered his lips so close to her ear that she still had shivers at the very thought. Suddenly she remembered someone pushing her against him, laughing as she sat dazed on his lap, she remembered whispering something in his ear, but she couldn’t remember what it was.

She buried her face in her hands. “Oh Merlin,” she murmured. Nothing embarrassing, she hoped.

She closed her eyes and finally she could feel a faraway noise of cutlery and plates being placed on the table as gently as the person could muster. Nonetheless, she could hear it and she knew perfectly well who that person was.

She wondered if it was better to take a shower and change before she went to talk to him, or if she should have just gone to him first, with her smelly breath and wrinkled dress and the best puppy eyes she could muster with her migraine.

She decided that she needed the hangover potion first. And she needed to talk to him. She didn’t even have the courage to glance at the mirror – too scared of her reflection – as she opened her door and made her way to the kitchen, her hand never leaving the wall for support.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the kitchen, looking at Hugo’s back with a weak smile over her face. “The sun’s so bright,” she mumbled.

Hugo turned to look at her and his mouth opened slightly in surprise, but then he closed it again and let out a sigh. “It’s almost midday,” he pointed out and she was crestfallen to hear his cold tone of voice. He was _really_ angry with her.

She let the wall go and took an unsteady step towards the table, wanting to sit more than anything. He swiftly grasped her elbow and guided her to the closest chair.

She smiled gratefully; maybe he wasn’t _that_ angry after all.

“My head is killing me,” she whispered.

Hugo turned away from her. “I’m sure it is,” he replied. “You were hammered last night.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Can I have some hangover potion?” she asked shyly.

Hugo took a deep breath and, for a moment, she thought that he was going to say no. “Later,” he finally replied. “If I give it to you now, then I’ll feel free to raise my voice with you.”

She let out a groan. “Oh God, listen I’m sorry for everything I did. I swear I didn’t mean to embarrass myself or you in front of your friends,” she whinged. “I don’t even remember what happened, but I promise you I didn’t mean anything of what I said or did.”

He snorted at that. “Great to know,” he muttered.

“What did I do?” she asked anxiously now.

He shook his head and turned to look at her. “You got pissed only because the other girls wanted you to,” he said, raising his voice until she felt her temples hurt. “You couldn’t stand, you were sick; you just let the others manipulate you.”

She brought a hand to her head, massaging her temple. “That’s a big word,” she complained. “I just wanted to have fun.”

“Well, did you have fun?”

She swallowed. “I don’t know,” she replied softly. “I don’t remember much.”

He snorted again, but finally handed her a hangover potion and turned away from her. “Let’s forget about last night, okay? Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea that I introduced you to the guys…”

She knocked down the potion. “What?” she said as she felt the headache placate and her mind clearing. “No! I’m going to play Quidditch with them next Saturday.”

Hugo shook his head. “Do whatever you want then,” he said dryly.

“But you’re coming too, aren’t you?” she asked shyly, suddenly not feeling all that sure that she wanted to go by herself. Those people were a little controlling, and she thought she was definitely not strong enough in case they asked her to fly through a hoop as a dare or to drink and then to fly.

He placed his hands on the kitchen counter and his back arched. “I don’t know,” he replied curtly.

Well, that was not a “no” and she knew how to convince him. First, she had to let him calm down though.

“Thank you,” she murmured, “for last night I mean.”

He turned to look at her, eyes narrowed. “I thought you said that you didn’t remember much,” he muttered coldly.

“I don’t, but I know that you were there to take care of me,” she whispered gently.

He sighed and his lips finally curved upwards in a soft smile.

She smiled too, happy that he seemed already less angry than before. “Can we spend the whole day lounging on the sofa, eating, chatting and replying to letters?” she asked hopefully.

His smiled became a bit wider. “Seems like a great idea,” he said gently.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _You need to help me! I’ve been married to my husband for fifteen years and I’ve just noticed that for the past two, our sex life has been non-existent. We’ve never been very experimental, nor have we done much except having sex once a week at the most. Now, I’m starting to feel old and alone, even when my husband is right next to me._
> 
> _So, I’ve decided we need to spice up our sex life a little, but I have no clue how to do that. I’ve heard of blindfolds, role-playing, spanking, or even handcuffs and ropes, but I don’t know the dynamics of any of those, nor what to do exactly or how to do it._
> 
> _Can you tell me what do you think would suit best a couple of not-so-adventurous people in their late thirties? (And can you tell me what to do too?)_
> 
> _Thank you,_
> 
> _Desperate Housewife_

***

Lily took a shower, because she desperately needed one. She even washed her dress, which smelt of smoke, alcohol, grilled meat, and sweat. She was relieved that she couldn’t find traces of vomit anywhere though.

She undid the makeup spell and scrubbed herself clean for half-an-hour with Hugo’s shower gel since, once again, she couldn’t find hers. She rubbed herself with rose-scented cream to cover the musky smell and grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of shorts before heading towards the kitchen.

Hugo was throwing a Quaffle against a wall. A magically heated plate filled with eggs and Brussels sprouts was awaiting her on the table. She eyed the vegetables warily; Hugo was definitely still annoyed with her.

“Thank you,” she murmured as she sat at the table and started nibbling at the eggs.

“No problem,” he replied over the loud bangs of the ball against the walls, amusement in his voice as he stared at her swallowing that healthy meal.

“I’ve got more letters,” she said as she poked the Brussel sprouts around the plate. “Three more.” She looked at him and smiled. “Care to help me?”

He grabbed the Quaffle in one hand and walked to the table. “How can I say no when you ask me like that?” he asked flatly, as he placed the ball on a chair and grabbed the letters off the table.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” said Lily quickly.

He raised his eyes from the first letter he was drawing out of the envelope. “I want to,” he said simply, looking into her eyes.

“You don’t sound too enthusiastic,” she replied defensibly.

“I am,” he said, and started reading the letter. He was probably torn between saying no to teach her some sort of lesson on alcohol abuse, peer pressure and decency, and helping her. She was glad to see that he opted for that second option.

She knew he had picked the one from Desperate Housewife straightaway, because he stiffened slightly as he went on reading. One of the other letters was from a little girl asking what she should have done to celebrate properly her tenth birthday, what games to play and what theme for the party. The other one was a sixth year who was already stressing for her N.E.W.T.s – which she wouldn’t have to sit through for another year – and asked for relaxation techniques.

“Interesting,” he said, and his voice wasn’t flat or cold anymore. He sat at the table, across from her, and looked at her. “She’s heard about quite a bit of things for being not-so-adventurous.”

Lily nodded. “That’s what I thought, too,” she grinned. “So, what do you think?” She pushed the Brussels sprouts around, wondering if he’d notice if she pushed them off the table.

“I think you should eat your vegetables,” he said calmly, and proceeded to read the other letters, too, while Lily pushed the sprouts in her mouth one after the other and tried to swallow them without chewing.

“Happy?” she almost choked out as she swallowed the last one and washed them down with a big glass of water.

“Very much,” he replied, placing the letters back on the table. “Which one do you want to start with?”

She licked her lips and cringed at the taste of Brussels sprouts lingering there. “The first one you picked?” she asked.

He nodded. “Do you have any ideas what to suggest to her?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t tried any of these things,” she admitted, before looking at him. “Have you tried any of the things she suggests?”

He had to look at the list again before he could answer her, and she wondered how many things he had actually tried that she hadn’t. She felt like a little girl compared to him. “Just blindfolding,” he replied, looking as if he was making an effort to keep his voice neutral.

She had to do that effort too. “Did she blindfold you or did you blindfold her?” Yes, good. She complimented herself for her steady voice.

He looked at Lily. “I blindfolded her,” he replied.

“Did she want that? Or did you want that?” Suddenly, her voice was a bit shaky and she didn’t know why.

He raised a corner of his mouth in a soft smirk. “Both,” he replied. “We had fun.”

Lily nodded, her mouth suddenly dry. “Great, then. So you think that blindfolding is the right choice.” She pushed parchment and a quill towards Hugo. “Please, go ahead and write to her. I trust you.”

He chuckled softly. “What? Don’t you want to try it?” he asked.

She felt her heart skip a beat. He was surely joking. Yes, of course he was joking. He was still annoyed with her for the night before and now he was just trying to make her feel uncomfortable with his stupid comments. Oh, but she would show him.

She wetted her lips and put on her best fake smirk. “Oh, did you want me to blindfold you?” she asked, trying to sound innocent.

He cocked his head. “No,” he replied calmly, “the other way round.”

She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “And then? What would you do to me?” she asked, trying hard to suppress a giggle.

He pursed his lips. “What would you want me to do?” he asked, his voice suddenly low. Oh, he was good; she definitely felt shiver down her spine, but the certainty that he was having her own sent that thought away quickly.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “Maybe you could do what you did last time…”

His eyes widened for a second, and he seemed to suck in his breath at her words.

Lily felt that she had won the competition, and triumphantly burst into laughter. “You should see your face,” she giggled. “You look as if Grandma has just asked you to have a look at Uncle Charlie’s erotic magazines with her!”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “You’re not funny,” he stated dryly.

“Yes, I am,” she grinned. “Come on, write something to poor Desperate Housewife, she needs your advice to spice up her sex life and save her marriage.”

He pushed the parchment back towards her and stretched a hand over the table, palm up. “I’m not going to write to her,” he said. “You are.”

“But I don’t know anything about blindfolding.” She rolled her eyes to let him know that if he didn’t help her, she wouldn’t be able to write anything at all. Well, anything that wasn’t based on conjectures.  

He nodded towards his hand and she finally placed hers on top of his. He closed his fingers around her palm and stood up, pulling her to her feet with him. He walked her towards the counter and grabbed a tea towel.

“What are you doing?” she asked, as he let her hand go and started to roll the tea towel into a thick line of fabric.

He didn’t reply, but when he finished, he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. She felt the vague smell of soap as he lowered the tea towel in front of her eyes and secured it behind her head.

“Are you serious?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“Yes,” he replied simply, pushing her forward until she was probably standing in the middle of the living room, somewhere close to the sofa. “Focus.”

“Focus on what? I can’t see anything,” she protested.

“Exactly,” he replied softly. He placed both hands on her shoulders, and she almost started when his long fingers pressed against her collarbone. “Focus on what you feel,” he said, his warm breath blew against her neck, and she was suddenly aware of his chest brushing against her shoulder blades.

She nodded, swallowing hard. Not knowing what he was going to do, not being able to see him was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. She felt ready to jump at every minuscule movement he would make, and at the same time her heart seemed to beat faster in anticipation of what he was about to do.

Slowly, his fingers slid over the curve of her shoulders, down her forearms, to her wrists. He grabbed her hands and untangled her arms, placing them at her sides. His thumbs drew circles on the back of her hands, tickling her.

She wanted to smile and giggle at the tickling motion, but she found that she could only part her lips and gasp down a bit of air.

He pressed himself more firmly against her back and then his lips were against her ear. “What do you feel?” he asked softly.

She shivered. “I feel sensitive,” she whispered. “Everywhere you’re touching me.”

He pressed a close-mouthed kiss under her ear. “Do you like it?” he murmured.

She swallowed. “Yes,” she replied softly, “and no…”

“Why not?” he breathed.

“Because I don’t know what you’re going to do,” she confessed in a whisper.

His lips opened in a smile over her neck. “You have to trust me,” he said. “Do you trust me?”

She tried to reply to him, but then his hands left her own, and he slid them on her waist, until his fingers were pressing against her lower abdomen and making a swarm of butterflies take off in her stomach. She nodded, breathless.

“Good girl,” he said in a low, throaty tone of voice.

She felt herself shivering at those two words. She tilted her head back and turned it towards Hugo’s, until his curls tickled her cheek. Now that she couldn’t see, every other sense was intensified, and all she could hear was her heartbeat and her breathing.

He pressed his cheek against hers and she inhaled sharply as he slid his fingers under her top, tickling the smooth skin of her stomach, rubbing circles over her hips, moving his hands up to her ribs. He caressed the underside of her breasts, stopping at first, as if he hadn’t expected to find her exposed like that, then he made his fingertips dance on her skin, leaving a thin layer of gooseflesh in its wake.

She held her breath, waiting for him to go even higher. She leant back against him and pushed out her chest, almost daring him to do that. He didn’t, though, he slid his hands down her sides and she furrowed her brow behind the tea towel. His hands reached the elastic band of her shorts and Lily took a sharp breath. He pushed his fingers inside, past her hipbones and down between her legs, and she could feel something starting to burn right there.

Why was she sure that she was wet?

She felt her knees buckling forth as he traced the crotch of her knickers with a finger. Merlin, she was wet. She could feel the cold material as he pressed it against her with his digit.

She should have stopped him. She hadn’t shaved properly there, she hadn’t expected this to happen, and now she didn’t want him to touch her. She tried to understand why it was more important to her that she was less than perfect for him, rather than the fact that Hugo had his fingers in her shorts. She couldn’t find a reason, because now all she wanted was to wrap an arm around his neck for support and kiss him as he fingered her to orgasm.

“I should stop,” he whispered, the form of the words touching her skin.

She didn’t reply, but let out a soft moan that sounded loud like a cry in her hears.

He stopped and, as slowly as he had started, he retrieved his hand from between her legs.

She grabbed his wrists before he could go past her hipbones. “You should,” she breathed, brushing her nose against his cheek. “But don’t, please,” she begged in a whisper.

He seemed to take a soft breath next to her and then his fingers slipped into her knickers while one of his hands splayed on her stomach. As if he was trying to keep her upright. As if he knew that she was going to collapse as soon as his fingers had worked their magic on her.

She swallowed when his finger found her clit. He drew circles with maddening slowness over it, until Lily’s muscles shook. She rotated her hips, trying to push against his hand, trying to get more friction.

Her heartbeat increased with every stroke, and now her breathing was coming out in irregular puffs. She hoped he didn’t say any of those clichés things that worked well in the erotic novels that Rose had lent her through the years. No whispered, “You like this,” or breathed, “You’re so eager.” She was, she didn’t need to hear him saying it.

He didn’t. Thankfully, he just started breathing heavily next to her and when his finger slipped inside and she arched her back with a moan, he pressed his hand against her belly to help her ride his hand at the right angle.

She could feel his knuckles against her arse as he found that spot inside of her that had the power to send shocks up her spine and down to her core. She took two sharp breaths and then no air at all seemed to reach her lungs as the waves of her orgasm made all her muscles tighten. She bent forward, her knees like jelly, and she could feel Hugo’s lips over the nape of her neck as he kissed her tenderly.

He waited with his finger still inside of her until she stopped spasming.

Then he held her until she could stand by herself.

***

> _Dear Desperate Housewife,_
> 
> _~~Bloody hell, I beg of you, ask your husband to blindfold you.~~ _
> 
> _First of all, you should stop worrying. Everybody encounters a moment in a relationship when they feel as if the passion is starting to wither. It’s normal and if you ask your friends, I’m sure they’ve all gone through such moments. That said, I’m glad to hear that you want to do something about it, and I think that spicing up your sex life is a wonderful way to start._
> 
> _To me, you seem adventurous enough, don’t worry, but many of the things you listed in your letter may require a lot of time and mental preparation. ~~Unlike blindfolding, because everybody can blindfold you in the middle of your kitchen and touch you until you can’t take it anymore.~~ However, I think that you should start with a bit of blindfolding. It is not important who blindfolds who, ~~although I highly suggest you get to try to be blindfolded because it’s so exciting you’ll come before he even touches you.~~ the important part is that you’re both committed to make this work. _
> 
> _The person who is blindfolded will find their senses heightened, they’ll be more sensitive to external stimuli, they’ll be easily aroused and therefore they’ll reach a more intense orgasm._
> 
> _Just use anything you find in your house: a tea towel, a tie, a scarf. You don’t need to buy anything in a specialised shop, and that’s surely a perk. Then start slowly, let the blindfolded person get accustomed to the feelings, let them savour every brush of fingers, every breath, every whisper. It’s going to be a completely new experience, be patient, be kind, share what you feel. You have the advantage of knowing each other and what you like, use it. Or try something new altogether. That works beautifully either way._
> 
> _Above all, though, have fun and enjoy the experience._
> 
> _With love,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

“ _Lily_ , Can you pass the salt, please?”

Lily blinked at the mention of her name. She raised her eyes from her almost untouched plate of Sunday roast and looked at Roxanne.

“What?” she asked, eyes wide.

“She asked for the salt,” repeated James with a chuckle. “Three times.”

There was laughter at the table, then a hand bumped into hers and she glanced askew at Hugo as he pressed the saltshaker against her fingers. “Thank you,” she whispered as she passed the salt to Roxanne across from her.

“Finally,” said Roxanne with a giggle.

“Oi, be nice with her, Roxy,” grinned Fred. “She’s in love. She’s obviously thinking about her beau.”

Lily’s heart skipped a beat at that. “What?” she repeated.

“Yes, your tall, artistic co-worker,” grinned Rose. “You still have to tell us everything about your date.”

Lily let out a breath of relief so loud that she knew the others had to have heard it. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to formulate a coherent thought about Derek and about her non-date with him. He had been the farthest thing from her mind since the afternoon before.

“Well?” urged Albus.

She opened her eyes again and rolled them. “I’m not in love,” she replied curtly, “and the non-date went well, thank you very much. We had ice-cream and chatted and that’s all.” She raised a hand to stop Molly when she opened her mouth. “No, he didn’t kiss me. Yes, I’m going to see him again, but only because I want to see his paintings.”

“And where are these paintings?” asked Louis with a smirk.

“His house,” she replied curtly. “But I just like the way he talks about art; he draws very well and I’m curious. And no, he’s not going to kiss me next time either.”

“Merlin, you’re not very romantic,” snorted Rose.

“It’s because we’re just friends,” she replied with a snort of her own. She waved a hand in the air to minimise the conversation. “Let’s not talk about my boring love life,” she said with a tone as cheerful as she could muster. “Let’s talk about you, Frank, how long are you going to stay here?”

Frank Longbottom, Lucy’s boyfriend, looked up at her from the corner where he was deep in conversation with his girlfriend. He seemed to have paid little to no attention at all at the bantering that was going on.

“Oh,” he said, surprised to have been asked something while he was fluttering his eyelashes at his girlfriend. “I’m staying until Wednesday, then I’m back in the jungle with Luna and Rolf until September.”

“That’s fascinating,” said Lily, really thinking that. “And what are you going to do when you’re back in September?”

“I need to find a place where to live,” he admitted, “and I’ll take care of the new and improved edition of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_.”

Lucy looked adoringly at him. “He’s going to stay for a year,” she said happily.

“That’s great,” said Dominique gently. “Are you going to do some house hunting while you’re here?”

Frank shook his head. “I think I’ll do that in September,” he replied. “When I have time to take a more thorough look at the flats in Diagon Alley.”

“If you promise to pay rent, maybe Uncle Ron will kick Lily and Hugo out of their flat for you,” said James with a wink.

There was more laughter, but Lily just glared at her brother. He was joking, obviously, Uncle Ron would never kick them out. He and her father had given them the flat willingly, their only worry was that they were too young to live by themselves, but they had – well, Lily had, a lot – insisted, and they never complained about them not paying rent or never showing up back at home. Well, her parents did complain that Lily never dropped by, but she already saw her mother every day at work, so…

“Have you finished, Lily?” asked Auntie Hermione as she levitated the dirty dishes from the table. “Are you not hungry?”

She stared at her plate, still covered in food, and hurried to stuff her face with potatoes and the roast meat. “Almost,” she replied, spluttering food all around her.

James sniggered at her, but she ignored him in favour of turning to look for Frank and continue with the questions about his plans. Frank was a fun person, always travelling the world with Auntie Luna and her over the top family, he was always tanned and more and more muscled every time she saw him, and Lucy was over the moon every time he was back and more and more heartbroken every time he left.

Frank was not there, though, and neither was Lucy. Most of her cousins were already on their feet too, complaining about the abundant meal and the heat. Victoire was fanning herself and leaning her back against Teddy, who seemed more than happy to support her, his big hands on her gigantic belly. Yes, it really was gigantic but, after all, her baby was due… three days before.

“You look ready to pop at any minute,” said Dominique, grinning.

“I am,” replied Victoire, too tired to do anything, but sighing and leaning her head back on Teddy’s shoulder. “I want to have this baby now.”

“Can you wait until after dessert?” asked Louis.

“Shut up, Lou,” hissed Victoire.

Uncle Bill seemed to spot his firstborn’s distress from across the dining room, because he was at her and Teddy’s side before Victoire had even had the time to follow her hiss with a glare directed at her brother.

“Louis,” he said severely, “don’t disturb your sister. Can’t you see she’s in a delicate situation?” He turned all his attention to Victoire and furrowed his brow. “Do you need anything, Vicky? Some water? A bit of air? A Cooling Charm?”

She smiled at her father. “A Cooling Charm would be lovely, Dad,” she said.

Uncle Bill smiled back, apparently reassured that his daughter wasn’t feeling as ready to pop as they all thought. He cast the Cooling Charm and suddenly the whole dining room seemed much less suffocating than before.

“Still eating, Lily?” asked Roxanne. “Maybe you’re not that much in love…”

“I’m not in love at all,” she replied curtly. “I’m just distracted. I have a lot of things to do this week. I’m even going to play Quidditch with Hugo’s new friends on Saturday.”

Roxanne’s eyes widened so much, Lily thought they were going to pop out of her head. “You? Playing Quidditch with Hugo’s new friends?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “I used to play Quidditch at school, remember?”

“Yeah, but these are semi-professional Quidditch players who are training to play in the league,” pointed out her cousin. “They’re going to beat you to a pulp.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured her. “Marie said that it’s a friendly match.”

“And I said that they’re going to play hard even if they call it friendly,” said Hugo, as he looked down at Lily and Roxanne.

“Are you going?” asked Roxanne.

Lily glanced up at him and he met her eyes for a fraction of a second, before he looked at Roxanne again.

“Maybe,” he replied nonchalantly. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Oh come on,” said Lily. “It’s going to be fun. Like being back at school with you shouting orders at me all the time.”

A subtle grin tugged at his lips. “Who says we won’t be on opposing teams?”

Lily beamed at him. He was that close to agree to come to the match. “We’ll ask to be put on the same team. Pretty please, Hugo?”

“Yeah,” added Roxanne, “and you can’t let her go by herself. They’re going to eat her up for lunch if you do.”

Lily turned to look at her. “Okay, wait a minute, now,” she retorted. “First of all, have I already said that it’s going to be a _friendly_ match? Second, I can take perfectly care of myself, thank you very much.”

Roxanne looked up at Hugo and shrugged a shoulder. “Well then,” she said, “the lady has spoken. We’ll go and bring her oranges at St Mungo’s.”

“Shut up, Roxy,” growled Lily, finally standing up and bringing her plate to the kitchen.

***

There was Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert, and Lily felt like Humpty Dumpty on a fence as she sat on her broom to play Quidditch with her cousins. They were down four people that week: Teddy, who was tending to Victoire’s every need; Ryan, Dominique’s boyfriend, who was not there that weekend; and Rose and Roxanne who, for some reason, had decided to sit back and were chatting so excitedly, Lily couldn’t understand when they were taking a breath between a word and another.

Lily played as Seeker, opposite to Albus, and to her dismay, her brother was the one who caught the Snitch that day, making his team win 240 to 170. Hugo patted her back condescendingly and laughed. He was on Albus’ team.

She glared at him and made her way back to the Burrow, where ice-tea and shortbread was waiting for them in the living room. She downed a glass and plopped on a soft chair, determined to find Frank again and ask him how Luna and Rolf were doing. Again, though, Frank and Lucy were nowhere to be found, and Lily just sat there as her sweaty cousins filled the living room one at a time, and they all started chatting again.

She was almost dozing off when someone whispered in her ear, “Come upstairs with me?”

She started, but when she turned her head to look at Hugo, he was already gone.

She slid off the chair and dragged her tired limbs towards the stairs. Why were her legs hurting already? She was really out of shape.

Hugo was standing on the first floor, but he didn’t look at her as she appeared on the landing.

“I hope you have a good reason for—”

“Shh!” he cut her off, bringing a finger to his lips. He crooked that finger and gestured for her to get closer.

She furrowed her brow, but walked up to him. He was standing next to the room that had once belonged to Uncle George and Uncle Fred. The door was ajar and a quiet chatting was seeping through the splint.

“You’re eavesdropping?” she asked him, cocking an eyebrow.

He brought his finger to his lips again and raised his eyebrows, nodding sharply towards the door.

She sighed, but perked her ears, curious now about what he wanted her to listen to.

“—honestly, I’m telling you, she’s got better,” Auntie Angelina was saying.

“Right,” replied Auntie Audrey. “I’m not the best judge, I’m afraid. I’ve never read her column before. And why are we reading it now?”

“Oh, I have,” said Auntie Hermione. “It’s always a good laugh when I’m stressed.”

“Not now,” said Auntie Angelina. “It looks like she finally found that little brain she has and she’s using it.” There was a turning of a page and then she added, “Might have been the pregnancy. Didn’t Ginny say that she was expecting or something?”

“Seamus’ child,” said Auntie Hermione. “I still can’t believe they ended up together.”

“Why?” asked Auntie Audrey. “Were they not friends?”

“I’ve just always thought that Seamus would end up with Dean…”

Auntie Angelina was the one who laughed the loudest, and Lily couldn’t fathom why, but she wasn’t given the time to work it out because Hugo grabbed her upper arm and dragged her away, pushing her through the first door they encountered. It was their grandparents’ room.

She blinked when he locked the door at his back, then he looked at her and grinned wide.

She plopped down on the bed and stared at him, mouth and eyes wide. “They were talking about Ask Lavender?” she asked in disbelief. “Honestly?”

He nodded and grinned even wider. “Apparently, you made the column better,” he said.

She finally grinned back. “I did!” she exclaimed. “And they… Like, they don’t know it’s me! I really made it better.” She looked at him and her grin toned down to a grateful smile. “And you. You made it better too.”

He waved a hand in mid-air, but this time she wouldn’t let him brush her off so easily.

She stood up from the bed and went to him, throwing her arms around his waist as she leant against his chest. “No,” she said, looking up at him. “You really, really, _really_ did.”

He seemed to flush and his smile was a beautiful mix of embarrassed and smug. “I didn’t do much,” he replied softly. “I just—”

She shushed him. “Just accept that you are my saviour,” she whispered. “And that I would be lost without you.”

He slid his hands over her back, until he was wrapping his arms around her shoulders and hugging her gently. “You wouldn’t,” he whispered back. “But keep saying these things. I like them.”

“Oh shut up!” she giggled before stepping back and grinning up at him. “You know I love you, right?” she added softly.

Hugo looked back at her with such a tender expression on his face that Lily felt herself melt a little. “Yeah,” he finally replied, his voice throaty. “Right back at you.”   


	11. Chapter 11

***

For the first time since she had started working at the newspaper, Lily found four letters waiting for her in Lavender’s office. She quickly stuffed them in her bag, pleasantly surprised, closed the door at her back and then proceeded to pay them no mind at all.

Instead, she decided that Monday morning was the perfect day to do a little shopping.

Their fridge was emptier than Albus’ head when he saw a pretty girl, and that morning Lily had finished even the big box of cereal and all the milk. And the last banana, which was already half black anyway.

She walked out of the newsroom and into Diagon Alley without seeing her mother nor Derek, and made her way to the shops.

Ever since they had moved into the flat, Hugo had been the only one to buy food. He had never made her feel guilty about it, nor had he mentioned that she owed him money, but Lily thought it was time she repaid his generosity.

The shops in Diagon Alley were small, but they sold everything she needed to survive: chocolate, sweets, bananas, colourful drinks that tasted like sugar, and chips. Of course, those were usually the things that Hugo never bought.

The first thing she did when she walked into the greengrocer’s was to throw some chocolate bars into her basket, and a couple of packages of crisps, but then she turned her attention towards the vegetables.

“Ugh,” was all she had to say as she picked up Brussels sprouts, leeks, onions, and tomatoes. She felt less disgusted as she chose some crispy red apples, bananas, and a variety of fruit that ended in “berry”. Those were particularly good with ice-cream, so she made a mental note to drop by Florean Fortescue’s before she headed home. She would wash the fruits thoroughly, chop it up, and add a generous scoop of Canary Cream ice-cream on top. And maybe some chocolate sprinkles too. Oh, yes, that would make the best dessert for that evening, and Hugo would be especially impressed by the fact that she had willingly prepared some fruit.

She paid and made her way to the butcher’s. Maybe she could have asked for something easy to cook, some kind of already-cooked-need-only-reheating kind of dish that surely they had, so that she could have prepared a proper dinner for Hugo.

After all, he was the one who always cooked for the both of them, and that was after his trainings, she could surprise him once in a while. All she had to do was avoid burning everything like she did the last time she tried.

She smiled excitedly. She would show him what a good little housewife she could be! And she had four letters that day… she needed to make him happy so that he would help her afterwards.

She walked into the butcher’s with a big grin on her face and a handful of Galleons in her hand. “Hello,” she greeted brightly, the word bouncing off the walls of the empty shop.

The butcher, a tall man with a belly so round he looked like he was going to give birth even sooner than Victoire, looked at her and nodded. “Hello to you too,” he replied.

“I’d like some meat,” said Lily knowingly.

“Then you’re definitely in the right place,” agreed the man.

She smiled. “I can’t cook, though,” she admitted, “and if you have something you’ve already cooked and that I can reheat later on, that would be brilliant.”

He looked at her for a long moment and Lily thought that she had said something completely idiotic.

“We don’t sell pre-cooked meals,” he replied, wrinkling his nose at the idea probably. “You can find those things at the Leaky Cauldron, if you’d like.”

Lily’s shoulders hunched forward. “So everything’s raw here?” she asked, looking at the bloody steaks and at the raw sausages that hung from the ceiling.

“Everything’s raw,” he confirmed, “and fresh.”

She nodded. “Well, then I’ll have… hum… two steaks? And a sausage, I guess…”

The butcher didn’t move and Lily wondered if they had different names for them when they were still uncooked. “What would you like to do?” he asked her gently.

“Cook dinner for two people,” she sighed, “and we both eat a lot, and he’s a Quidditch player so he needs something energetic too…”

The butcher nodded knowingly. “Then you want a nice entrecote,” he said, bending over the counter to show her a thick piece of meat. “You season it with some salt and pepper, rosemary and sage, a bit of garlic—even if it’s not the best herb when you give him a goodnight kiss—and grill it for as long as you’d like. Rare is better, in my opinion.” He smiled and added, “Serve it on a bed of lettuce and with chips and barbecue sauce and I promise he’ll never leave you.”

Lily looked from the man to the steak, wondering if it was worth to point out to a complete stranger that she was talking about her cousin. It wasn’t. “Okay,” she finally conceded. “Should I get four? Just in case…”

The man laughed as he grabbed two steaks. “Tell you what,” he said, “I’ll give you two thick ones, so that if you burn them the inside is still going to be edible.”

Lily nodded and smiled. “Great,” she said, “and then I’d like some sausages, ham, carpaccio, and a chicken.”

The butcher cocked an eyebrow, probably thinking that she had been pulling his leg all along, and Lily hurried to clarify, “My boyfriend cooks.”

He nodded seriously. “I see,” he said as he served her. “These modern times! When I was your age, young men like me had no idea what side to hold a knife, and pretty girls like my wife could make a banquet out of a few crumbs of bread and salami.” He laid down the carpaccio almost lovingly on a sheet of aluminium foil. “And now,” he chuckled, “boys do the housework and girls are afraid to burn the dinner.” He winked at Lily. “Hold on to him.”

She wondered if it was too late to tell him that he wasn’t really her boyfriend. Yes, it was, she had already used that word, she would sound like an idiot now. She had to smile and nod. “I know,” she said, “I’m very lucky.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s too,” grinned the man. “A pretty, young lady like yourself. Surely he doesn’t care if you can’t cook.” He cut some ham into thin slices. “Well, maybe he’ll care in a few years, but you can always learn, right?”

She nodded again. “He’s teaching me a bit,” she admitted. “It’s fun.”

He packed everything meticulously and weighted the pile of packages. “See? Something you can do together,” he said, “and you’re having fun too. It’s not like my wife taking me to all her salsa lessons and wanting me to dance with her in front of all her friends.”

“But dancing is fun,” she told him. “I’m not good, but it’s fun.”

“Then you should come to the lessons,” he chuckled, “with your boyfriend. Every Tuesday evening at number 208, next to Madam Malkin’s.”

Lily’s smile became awkward. “I’d love that,” she stammered, “but my boyfriend is really tired in the evenings. You know, Quidditch and all…”

The butcher nodded. “Of course, of course,” he said. “It’s five Galleons, love, and don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll cook everything to perfection.”

She paid, cast a Weightless Charm on her bags and went back to the greengrocer’s to get potatoes and lettuce, as well as some dressing and barbecue sauce. Then her last stop was Florean Fortescue’s for the ice-cream.

She felt ready to tackle dinner later that day.

And she was not going to burn it.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I’m sick and tired. I’m sick and tired of everything and everyone. My job is at a dead end, my boyfriend is a knob and my parents exasperate me. I’m almost thirty and still have no family, no career possibilities, and I don’t even own my own place or a Kneazle. Honestly. What should I do? I just want to point my own wand to my head and murmur the Killing Curse, but… I’m sure you’re going to tell me that that’s not a solution._
> 
> _Please, help me! I’m at my wit’s end._
> 
> _Desperate YW_

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _You work for the Prophet, right? Can you ask them if they can make the Magical Symbols Game a bit easier? I can never finish it and I always end up breaking something in frustration._
> 
> _Thank you!_
> 
> _Player #1_

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _My mum doesn’t like my boyfriend! My dad thinks he’s all right, but my mum says he’s definitely not at my level — whatever that means. I know she’ll always think of me as her little man, but I’m pushing forty, for crying out loud! And I think I love him, he’s my prince charming, the one I’ve been waiting for all my life. What can I do to make my mother like him? Or at least to have her change her opinion about him a bit?_
> 
> _The Imperius Curse is still illegal, isn’t it? (Just joking, don’t worry!)_
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Mr Good_

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I have a ginormous problem. I wanted to introduce my boyfriend to my parents – and then to the rest of my family – this month, but I am scared to death to do so. Let me explain: my boyfriend is sweet, intelligent, handsome, rich, and has a very good job, but he’s slightly older than me. All right, he could be my father. Honestly, he really could, since he was at school with my parents. And to top that, he’s my brother’s godfather, my dad’s best-friend, and he used to have a crush on my mum._
> 
> _So, I’m a bit scared that they’re going to flip out… maybe not with me, but with him? Also, they have this wonderful relationship, and I’d hate to ruin that._
> 
> _What shall I do? Shall I elope and come back only when I have a grandchild to distract them with? I think I’d miss them too much, and the rest of my family too…_
> 
> _Shall I make a joke? My dad is a fun guy, after all…_
> 
> _Let me know what you think!_
> 
> _Thank you! Love,_
> 
> _Pretty in Love_

***

“Bloody hell, but you’re always sleeping!”

Lily stretched her arms over her head and frowned, her eyes still closed. That was a rather rude tone of voice and she wondered why Hugo was in such a state. “Hmm, yes,” she hummed gently. “How was practice? Did you have a good day?”

There was a tutting sound and then a snort. “I’m not Hugo, you chubby little girl.”

Lily kept her eyes closed, but groaned out loud. Finally her head clearing a bit as she recognised the owner of the rude voice. Had she already said something? Couldn’t she pretend to be still sleeping? And what if she pretended to fall asleep again? Would Albus leave her alone?

Probably not.

She cracked an eye open and looked at her brother. Then rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Where did you get that chocolate?” she asked sharply.

He broke a big chunk of milk chocolate from a bar and tossed it in his mouth. “Your kitchen,” he replied nonchalantly. “Have I already said that you’re a bit chubbier than a few weeks ago? I’m doing you a favour.”

She glared at her brother before stretching a hand towards him. He rolled his eyes, but broke another chunk and placed it in her palm.

“What are you doing here, Al?” she asked as she chewed noisily on the chocolate. “Don’t you have a job?”

“Don’t you?” he asked back. “And aren’t you the sweetest little sister? I feel really loved now.”

“You just called me chubby.”

He shrugged a shoulder and grinned. “It’s not a bad thing,” he assured her. “Anyway, there’s something I have to tell you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Go ahead then.”

Albus shook his head, his green eyes shining with mischief. “Information in exchange of information,” he said. “First, you tell me about this Derek you’re going out with. Is he a gentleman? Did he try to make you do something you didn’t want? Do we have to go to his house and scare him?”

Lily’s jaw dropped. “Beg your pardon?” It wasn’t every day that her brother would act all protective with her, and she was perfectly fine with that. She didn’t need protection and she was happy to avoid the awkward conversations. Like this one.

Albus shrugged a shoulder. “A little bird told me that he doesn’t like this Derek, and I trust this little bird.”

Lily pressed her lips into a thin line, flaring her nostrils. “Hugo needs to mind his own business,” she snapped.

“I didn’t say it was Hugo.”

“You didn’t have to,” she replied curtly. “Merlin, Derek is a perfectly fine young man, he’s mature and has a good job that he’s good at, and he’s a gentleman. Ask Mum! She likes him even more than I do!”

“Ah! And why do you like him less than your own mother? What’s wrong with him? What shady secret does he have?”

Lily rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air. “He doesn’t have any shady secret!” she snapped. “Now, if you’ve just come here to get on my nerves, then mission accomplished, you can leave now, thank you very much.”

He raised his chin, and stared pointedly at her, looking eerily like their father when he was about to say something serious. “I’m leaving,” he said calmly, “but you need to grab a bunch of flowers and come with me.”

“Why, pray tell?”

“Because Victoire’s just had the baby.”

***

Lily pressed her hand on the glass as she used to do when she was little and stopped in front of Magical Menagerie or Honeydukes. Except this time, she wasn’t looking at sweets and kittens, but she thought that the little doll-like babies were equally delicious.

Remus Edward Lupin was a tiny bundle of red limbs and colour-changing hair. He was small and beautiful and Lily had fallen in love with him the moment Victoire had– needlessly as he was the only Metamorphmagus baby in the nursery – pointed to him.

Lily had placed a bunch of daffodils on Victoire’s bedside table, not even caring if someone was going to put them in a vase, and spent hours standing there, in front of the glass, staring at the baby as he slept, yawned, and shook his tiny fists into the air.

“He’s so small,” whispered Rose in awe.

“And precious,” added Lily, without looking away from him.

“We need to go out and celebrate,” said Fred cheerfully.

“Celebrate what?” sniggered Victoire. “None of you pushed that little man out of their—”

“Oh Vicky, please!” groaned James. “Don’t give us the details.”

There was more sniggering and some groaning, but Lily was just too enraptured by the tiny baby to mind them. Her first second cousin, Grandma and Granddad’s first great-grandchild, Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur’s first grandchild. There was something special about him, the first one of a new generation of Weasleys. Or Lupins in that case.

“We’ll keep in mind that you’re the mother, Vicky, and cheer in your name,” said Louis, “while we celebrate at the Leaky Cauldron.”

There was a murmur of assent and Victoire just shook her head and smiled. “Well, alright, but I want a pile of presents and a party all for Remus and me when I get out of the hospital.”

“Yes, and me,” added Teddy, wrapping an arm around Victoire’s shoulders. “Aren’t you tired, Vicky? I’ll take you back to your bed, and I’m sure it’s almost time to feed the baby too.”

They walked away and murmured to each other, kissing every few steps and grinning like two dumb people in love.

Lily didn’t pay them any mind. She pressed her nose against the glass and looked as the Healers came to take the children to their parents for the evening feeding.

“Let’s go,” said Molly, grabbing Lily’s wrist. “Visiting time is almost over anyway.”

“Yeah, and I think they’re going to notice if you steal a baby, Lils,” chuckled Roxanne.

“Leaky Cauldron it is, then,” announced Fred and there were more murmurs of assent.

Lily waved goodbye at the baby and finally turned away from the nursery. “What? Wait! I can’t!”

The group of youngsters stopped in their tracks and turned to look at her. “Of course you can,” said Dominique. “We’re going to go through Purge and Dowse and then we’re walking to Diagon Alley. It’s not too difficult, you know.”

But Lily wasn’t even listening to her. “What’s the time? Oh God! I bought food for tonight; I was going to make dinner for Hugo and me!”

James cocked an eyebrow. “Why do you hate your poor cousin?”

She glared at him. “I don’t,” she replied. “Oh Merlin! But it’s so late! He’ll be cooking himself! Has anybody told him about the baby? He has to see him!”

“The baby is not going anywhere, Lils,” said Rose. “He’ll see him tomorrow.”

But Lily wasn’t listening to her either, nor to anybody else. How could she forget about Hugo? And about dinner? She giggled as she hurried towards the Ground Floor. After all, Remus was a reason enough to forget about everything else in the world.

“Lily! Lily!”

She crashed right against the entrance door when she turned to look at Hugo. “Ouch!” She brought a hand to her cheek. “Oh damn it!”

“Are you okay, Miss?”

“I’m fine,” she grunted to the people that were flocking around her and trying to peek at her cheek. She was about to snap at them to get lost when she remembered where she was and decided to let them do what they thought it was best. Someone moved her hand away, someone else muttered a Healing Spell, and soon she was fine for real.

“Everything alright?” asked Hugo with a grin over his face. He was looking refreshed and happy, and had a bunch of roses in one hand and a balloon in the other.

“Wipe that grin off your face,” she told him none-too-seriously. “It’s all your fault, I was coming home to tell you about the baby!” She raised her eyes on the balloon where the writing _Welcome, Remus!_ was flashing in blue. “But it looks like you already know about him.”

He nodded as they made their way back up. “My mum told me,” he said, “and when I came home and didn’t find you I knew you were here.”

“Like every Weasley and Potter in the world,” said Lily as they climbed up the stairs back to the maternity ward. “Oh, and they all want to go to the Leaky Cauldron to celebrate, but we can’t go.”

He cocked his head. “Alright,” he said, “is there a reason why we can’t go?”

She nodded. “Yes, but it’s a surprise.” She grinned before looking at him sharply. “You haven’t already eaten or cooked something, have you?”

He bit his bottom lip. “Nope, but I think this gives away the surprise a little.”

She giggled before punching him on his arm jokingly. He didn’t even flinch. “I should be mad at you, though!” she said, trying to sound annoyed. “You have to stop going around saying that Derek is not a nice person! Al came over and asked me if I wanted him to hex my boss’ son!”

Hugo seemed to find that particularly amusing. “Finally, Albus does something useful.”

“Stop it!” She punched him again, harder this time, but he still didn’t budge. “Derek is perfectly fine. And now focus, because you’re going to meet your first second cousin!” She grabbed his wrist and dragged him forward, excited beyond words to introduce Hugo to Remus.

***

Dinner had definitely not gone according to plan. Lily knew she had said too much when she had informed her cousins and brothers that she was going to cook for Hugo. Out of concern – or, more probably, just to annoy her – all of them had followed the two of them home, bringing food and drinks, and putting on music to celebrate the birth of their first second cousin.

Lily was not happy about this turn of events. Apart from the fact that she had to hide the steaks and the berries and the ice-cream from her cousins, all she wanted was for them to go away and let her and Hugo work peacefully on the letters.

Instead, they seemed to be having the time of their lives in their tiny flat, lounging on the sofa, playing Exploding Snap on their kitchen table, lying back comfortably on Lily’s bed to chat. They didn’t look like a bunch of people who all had jobs and would wake up early in the morning the following day.

“So, did you like Remus?” asked Rose, sipping some Butterbeer from a bottle as she leant back against the kitchen counter.

Lily smiled at her. “I loved him,” she said. “He was brilliant. I completely forgot how much I love little children, last time I saw one, it was…” She furrowed her brow, trying to remember when she had last seen a baby. “Hmm, probably Auntie Gabrielle’s youngest daughter…”

“That was a cute baby too,” beamed Rose. “She looked like a doll. But I have to admit that Remus’ hair is what made me fall in love with him.” She giggled. “Have you seen him turning it blue when the Healer went to check on him? And then pink while he was sleeping?”

“So cute,” agreed Lily. “I want a colour-changing baby too one day.”

“Well, you have to ask Derek if anybody in his family was a Metamorphmagus,” said Rose.

Lily sighed. “Oh, stop it already. I don’t like him that way.”

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “Then shouldn’t you let him know?”

“He knows,” replied Lily, shrugging a shoulder. “We haven’t talked about relationships and lovey-dovey stuff. And maybe he doesn’t like me either, he wasn’t exactly making suggestions or trying to court me, you know?”

“All I know is that you can be blind, when you want to be,” said Rose before narrowing her eyes. “That and that my brother doesn’t like him that much, but I think he’s pulling his protective big brother act, isn’t he?”

Lily smiled dumbly. “Yeah, he can be very protective,” she murmured.

“Not with me,” replied Rose. “I mean, he tried, naturally, but I told him straight away that I could take perfectly care of myself.” She sipped a bit more of Butterbeer. “Would you like me to talk to him?”

Lily bit her bottom lip, lowering her eyes. “No,” she said, “I like that he’s protective.”

She could feel Rose’s eyes boring holes into her head. “Really?” she asked softly. “Okay, don’t let him hear that, though, otherwise he’ll smother you with attention.”

Lily kept her eyes to the ground, but she spread her lips into a smile at the very thought. “And that would be terrible,” she murmured. “Absolutely terrible…”

***

Hugo was knackered. She could tell from his eyes, shiny and just a tiny bit unfocused, as if they were already dreaming about his bed. Nonetheless, he sat on her bed in his underwear, and turned to look at her. “Do you need help with the letters?” he asked her, smiling despite the tiring day he had just had.

She shook her head and smiled, taking the letters from her bedside table, she leant her head back against the headboard. “Nah, it’s fine, I can manage, tonight.”

“You know I’m happy to help.”

“Yes,” she said seriously, “but you look like you could fall asleep any moment. Go to bed. I’ll manage, I swear.”

He smiled, but didn’t move. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She grinned and cocked her head. “Go to bed before you fall asleep here.”

He chuckled and stretched his arms forward, until he was hugging one of her pillows as he slowly lay down next to her. “Is that a bad thing?” he asked sleepily. “You have a huge bed.”

She stared at his prone form, his muscled back rose and lowered with every breath and she followed the curve of his spine down to his underwear. She placed her feet against his side and kneaded his soft skin with her toes, trying to push him off the bed. “You’re going to wake up too early for my liking tomorrow morning.”

“Hmm,” was all he replied at first, and Lily wondered if he had already fallen asleep. “I like Remus,” he added after a moment, “he’s cute.”

She grinned. “He is, isn’t he?” she exclaimed. “I like him too.”

There was a long moment of silence, then Hugo said, “We should go and buy him something. Don’t they do that? Buying something for the new-born baby…”

“I guess… maybe a pretty onesie that says… _Beware! I’m the first of many Weasleys to come_ , or something like that.”

Hugo dipped his hands on the mattress and pushed himself up. “Only he’s a Lupin,” he reminded her, as he stood up. “Well, I’m off to bed.” He walked to her door, but turned to look at her before he exited the room. “And I’m looking forward to the surprise tomorrow evening,” he added, smiling.

She solemnly placed a hand on her heart. “I promise I’m not going to poison you.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” He chuckled. “Night, Lily.”

“Sleep tight.”

He closed the door with a soft click and Lily looked down at the letters in her lap. They were easy. Come on! She could do that even without Hugo. It was her job after all.

***

> _~~Dear Player #1,~~ _
> 
> _~~I’m sorry, it’s not my fault if you’re daft.~~ _
> 
> _~~I’m sorry, but I never play that game. I think it’s rubbish, why don’t you switch to the crossword on Witch Weekly?~~ _
> 
> _~~Honestly? This is a letter you thought you should address to me? You couldn’t write to Mr Quills about it, could you? I help people, I don’t create that stupid game. I wouldn’t even know who the heck to ask that!~~ _

***

> _~~Dear Pretty in Love,~~ _
> 
> _~~First of all, seriously? Your brother’s godfather? Your father’s best-friend? Someone who had a crush on your mother? That’s messed up.~~ _
> 
> _~~First of all, how old is he? Some people have young parents…~~ _
> 
> _~~First of all, doesn’t he have a son who’s your age? Because, honestly, if you aren’t bothered with his flabby chest and the age spots on his hands now, I’m sure you’ll be very soon…~~ _

***

The following morning, when Lily woke up, she found herself buried under a pile of crumpled up pieces of parchment. She sighed and closed her eyes again, not wanting to see all those useless replies that she had crossed out before falling asleep. Instead, she blindly brushed them off herself and only once they were on the floor she tried look for the actual letters, but they were nowhere to be found.

“What the—” She got up from the bed, vainly searching the floor, under and over the bed, on her bedside table. They had disappeared. “Damn it,” she muttered. She needed those letters, they were her job, and she had to finish it that morning. She looked around herself, at the mess that was her bedroom, and wondered if they had been sucked into Uncle George’s Headless Hat and were now invisible, or if they were lodged under a pile of clothes.

“I have to tidy up,” she grumbled, standing up and going to the door. She made her way to the bathroom, splashed ice-cold water on her face and walked back to her room. She decided she needed breakfast first, though, so she just kept walking until she found herself in front of the fridge. She grabbed the carton of milk and smiled when she saw that Hugo had set a box of cereal and a bowl with a spoon on the table for her.

She pushed the bowl towards the cereal, and a pile of notes popped out from underneath it. On the top one, it said:

_I was getting bored this morning; I hope it’s okay if I tried to answer the letters. You can discard them if they’re rubbish. You were probably too tired last night, just like me… Love, H._

She closed her eyes for a moment, without being able to understand how she felt about Hugo doing all her job at her place. Help her was one thing, but this… Could she feel annoyed and relieved at the same time? No, probably not. That was how she felt though.

She picked up the first one.

***

> _Dear Desperate YW,_
> 
> _I’m glad you already agree with me that using the Killing Curse on yourself is not the answer. And I hope it was a joke too, but in case you might feel this kind of helplessness in the future, remember that there are Healers who specialise in the field of mental studies at St Mungo’s – I believe they were instituted specifically for survivors of the Second Wizarding World._
> 
> _I’m not going to tell you that I’m sure your problems are all much easier to resolve than you might actually think, because I’m sure that everyone has their problems and they look unsurmountable most of the times._
> 
> _What I suggest you do is follow this easy path that will bring you to a new level of understanding of your life and its daily trials. Whether you’re dealing with your family, your boyfriend or your co-workers, ask yourself what the problem is. Once you’ve identified it, ask yourself if you can do something to solve that problem._
> 
> _If you can, you shall not worry. Just do what you know you have to do and everything will be fine. If you can’t, I suggest you go and talk to the person you have a problem with. Try to keep calm as you expose what the issue is, make it clear that it’s really bothering you, ask for advice. People are really good at giving advice, some of them just don’t know it._
> 
> _I am sure that everything will go well, and if it doesn’t, you can always leave for a holiday around the world. Everybody needs a holiday, right?_
> 
> _Best,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

> _Dear Player #1,_
> 
> _I’m afraid I don’t have the power to ask the editor to change the Magical Symbols Game for you. But if you want a little help, the hardest symbol to find is always in the middle of the issue, so maybe focus on those two pages?_
> 
> _Good luck! I’m sure you’ll manage to find all the symbols!_
> 
> _Best,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

> _Dear Mr Good,_
> 
> _It’s hard when one of your parents don’t agree with your choice of a partner. Ideally, you’d want them to like whoever you choose to bring home. After all, you have surely chosen the best option available, you love him, you want to be happy._
> 
> _It’s good to know that your father likes your boyfriend, so you can enlist his help to make an impression on your mother. What does she like most in the world – apart from you, that’s it – maybe she likes to dance? Cook? Eat? Knit? Ask your boyfriend to organise an evening with you and your parents, and remind your mother throughout the evening that it was all his doing._
> 
> _If nothing works, though, remind her that it’s your life and that if she doesn’t approve of your boyfriend that won’t affect your relationship with him._
> 
> _Hope this helps!_
> 
> _Best,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

> _Dear Pretty in Love,_
> 
> _You got yourself in a bit of a pickle, haven’t you? On one side, there’s your family – whom you love – and on the other side, there’s your boyfriend – whom you’re in love with. You want to keep both of them, and you want them to still have a relationship after you break the news to your family about him._
> 
> _If I may say, you need to get ready for some fighting, probably for a day or two, and for some shouting too. But if your family loves you, they will love you no matter what. Everything is going to be alright._
> 
> _Maybe treat your family to something they love before you drop the bomb? A basket of goods from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes? You said your father was a fun guy, surely that will make the surprise less harsh to digest. Or take them out to have dinner in a nice place. Or offer to help them out with something that they’ve asked for a long time._
> 
> _Don’t you worry, though, everything will be fine and in a few weeks’ time you’ll think back at that moment and giggle at how scared you were._
> 
> _Best,_
> 
> _Lavender_


	12. Chapter 12

***

Lily was slowly and carefully cutting the potatoes into thin strips. Slowly and carefully was key here, since she had already had to throw away three. Completely lost in thought, she wasn’t even looking at what she was doing and at some point she had lowered her eyes and found the chopping board covered in blood. And the potatoes too.

Cutting them slowly and carefully was hard when she was this overwhelmed though. In fact, right at that moment, she felt guilty, horrible, angry, and inadequate. And because of that, she had spent the whole day inside, with just a quick stop by the newsroom to pick up Lavender’s letters and drop by Hugo’s replies.

And that was what she was: an owl. Just that. Why on earth did she want to be a journalist if she couldn’t write? Why?

She shook her head forcefully. Oh hell! She _could_ write, she just couldn’t reply to whiny people whining about their life.

And Hugo! Ugh! Hugo made her so mad!

He was supposed to be a Quidditch player! He was supposed to become a mountain of muscles with no brain! How could he play all day and wake up at five in the morning and do her job too? And she knew that he was just trying to help her, and that he didn’t want to show off. But why did he have to be _that_ good? And she felt guilty that she was angry with him. She felt horrible, but he did really make her feel completely inadequate. As if she was unable to do her job, which naturally it was something so easy that Hugo could do while having breakfast.

What was going to happen when Mr Quills moved her from Lavender’s Agony Aunt Column to the Quidditch page? Would she be unable to write even the Quidditch articles? She imagined herself being twenty-five, thirty, forty-five, maybe still living in that flat, with a couple of Kneazles, and visiting Hugo and his wife – for some reason, a shiver went down her spine when she imagined his wife to have Marie’s features – and their children and whine about the fact that she needed his help.

She imagined his wife would ask him to tell Lily to go away, that they had to put the children to bed, that at forty-five she should start to learn how to do her job. Hugo was probably going to be already retired at forty-five.

She imagined his wife could cook too, and Lily would invite herself over to their place and eat their food every day. Twice a day. And maybe one day he would snap at her to get the hell out of his house.

She imagined she would probably cry herself to sleep afterwards, but she was pleased that her first reason to do that was because she didn’t want Hugo to shut her out of his life, rather than because he didn’t want to help her anymore.

She snorted. Yes. So mature of her!

Suddenly, there were fingers slithering on her shoulder, long, warm fingers that closed on her collarbone and startled her.

“Ah! Oh… ouch! Damn it!” She brought the finger she had sliced open to her mouth and sucked the blood, turning to glare at Hugo through her thick eyelashes.

He took out his wand and grabbed her hand gently in his own. “In my defence,” he said before murmuring a Healing Spell, “I called you three times ever since I walked through that door.”

“I was… lost in thought,” she replied as the cut sealed itself.

He smiled at her before turning to look at the potatoes and the steaks that she had prepared to cook. “This smells nice,” he said.

“I haven’t cooked anything yet,” she replied curtly, turning away from him and focusing on the potatoes again. She hadn’t cut a single strip since her mind had started wandering.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I’ll take a shower and come to help you.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in and counting to ten before she exhaled. Then she turned towards him again. “Why are you apologising?” she snapped. “And no, you can’t come and help me! I can do it on my own, despite what you think!”

He bit his bottom lip, furrowing his brow. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “Did I do something wrong?”

She brought her wrist to her forehead and pressed down hard, trying to keep the blooming headache at bay. “No,” she replied, “yes… No… I… I don’t know.”

“Lily?”

“Ugh!” she sighed, turning and leaning the small of her back against the kitchen counter. She let herself slide down until she was crouching on the floor. “It’s just that I found your letters this morning and they… they were perfect. Bloody hell, they were perfect. And I know you did that because I couldn’t whip out a decent reply and I had to bring them to the newsroom this morning, but… and I know I’m a horrible person because I’m angry that you’re so bloody good with everything you do, but… but I honestly feel like a failure.” She felt tears threatening to rise up in her eyes, but she pushed them back down. “And you can do everything so well, like it’s normal and just plain fine for a human being to do stuff perfectly well all day long. But it’s not, and it’s difficult, and I know I don’t really apply myself too hard, but… But I feel so stupid compared to you!” She let out an involuntary sob and swallowed to try to hold in the tears. “And I don’t want you to kick me out of your house when we’re forty-five,” she added in a whisper.

She could see him crouching next to her out of the corner of her downcast eyes, then his hand stretched towards her face and he cupped her cheek, raising her head to make her look at him.

“I had no idea you felt this way,” he whispered, “and I’m sorry if I caused you any distress.” He took a deep breath and lowered his eyes. “I just wanted to help you because I like to spend time with you. I think I told you that already. But only now I understand how selfish that was of me.”

Could she feel any guiltier? Apparently, yes, of course she could. She lowered her eyes too and didn’t reply.

She sensed his movements as he got closed to her, and she closed her eyes, wondering if he was going to kiss her. He did. His lips pressed softly on her forehead, in a comforting way. “I’m not going to help you anymore, Lily,” he told her sweetly, caressing her hair.

Her eyes shot open at his words. “What?” she snapped. “Now how did you get there?”

He tilted his head back, furrowing his brow. “I thought it was what you wanted,” he said tentatively. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

She snorted. “Of course not,” she replied. “I’m not going to be the selfish one here.” She raised her chin. “If you like to help me so much, who am I to prevent you from doing so?”

He narrowed his eyes, but seemed to be trying hard to keep himself from laughing. He grabbed the kitchen counter and pulled himself up before offering her a hand and pulling her to his feet too. “So… you’d be so magnanimous as to let me keep helping you, right?”

“Of course,” she replied, turning away and waving her wand to switch on the hobs. “I could never do that to you. We’ll just… you know, we’ll just do things together, just don’t take my letters and reply to them without me… or just try to burn something every now and then when you cook, or—”

She stopped when his lips pressed against her cheek. “Promise,” he whispered, kissing her gently. When he withdrew, he added in an unnaturally deep voice, “I’ll take a shower; you better have that dinner ready for me when I get out, woman.”

She threw him a tea towel and stuck out her tongue, but when she turned away, she couldn’t help smiling.

***

Hugo came back into the kitchen in time to turn the steaks on the other side and prevent their transformation into pieces of coal. He Healed her hands, which were covered in blisters caused by the boiling oil where she had thrown – a bit too enthusiastically, probably – the potato strips.

He praised her chips, though, and showed her how to drain them from all the oil before he started to snatch them and dunk them into the barbecue sauce.

“Set the table,” she told him, pushing him away from the mountain of chips, in the vain attempt to protect the side dish. Somehow, though, when she placed them on the table with the steaks they had already decreased a good few inches.

The steaks looked… not exactly as she had expected… some pieces were a bit burnt, and the lettuce was looking like it was suffering a great deal under all that that heat, but when they cut into them she was glad to see the red interior was cooked to perfection.

“Well,” said Hugo, as he cut through the meat, “I think you’ve been lying to me. You said you can’t cook, and I even believed you.”

“Oh, shut up,” she giggled. “It wasn’t that difficult after all…”

“No, you shut up,” he replied. “I think we should cook together more often. Maybe I can teach you how to make lasagne, or pasta, or brownies—”

“You can make brownies?”

“It can be fun; maybe we could cook something fancy and invite our parents for dinner. Maybe this Saturday, just to show them—”

“Wait a second,” she cut him off. “First, you can make brownies? And second, this Saturday we’re busy. We’re playing with your friends and then I’m off to Derek’s house.” She swallowed. “Remember?” she asked in a whisper.

He nodded stiffly. “Of course I remember,” he replied, looking everywhere but at her. “Next week then. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“I don’t know…” She bit her bottom lip, cooking for their parents? And then what? Have them staying over for Wizard’s Chess? Was that normal? She didn’t want to double – no, triple – date with her parents and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione.

She blinked and wrinkled her nose. It wasn’t a date, she wasn’t dating Hugo. What was she thinking?

“I’ll make brownies,” he said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She smiled. “Yeah, no, okay,” she said. “Sounds good. Unless, they have something else to do…”

“Who? Our parents? Yeah, right.”

She giggled at that.

When they finished, she was pleased to see that Hugo was genuinely surprised that she had prepared a dessert too, even when the dessert was as easy as a fruit salad with ice-cream on top. He praised it and got double servings. “Need help with the letters?” he finally asked.

“Oh!” she replied. “The letters! I didn’t even remember that I had new letters. God!” She waved her wand to Summon them and a piece of parchment with a quill.

“Had a busy day?”

“No,” she replied, “just spent it thinking.” She opened the first envelope and took out the letter. “There are four of them today.”

“By the end of the summer you’ll either have to start replying without me or I’ll have to come home earlier,” he chuckled.

“Or I’ll meet you for lunch and we’ll work on them in River Piddle.”

He nodded and smiled. “You should really come to have lunch with me and the guys every now and then,” he stated. “Even if you don’t have letters to reply to. They keep asking about you.”

“Do they?” she asked, grinning. “What do they say? Where’s that beautiful girl who was so much fun to be around?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “More or less,” he replied vaguely. “They want to apologise for the way they behaved with you on Saturday night.”

Her jaw dropped. “What? Why? I had fun.”

He waved a hand in front of her. “Well, you’ll ask them why, then,” he replied before lowering his eyes on the letters. “Now, are we going to help some poor desperate Lavender fan, or not?”

***

The week was fast  to go by, Lily was busy trying hard to reply to as many letters as she could by herself, and trying to cook more than ready made meals. On Thursday, she managed to make some salmon, but it was so raw that she was sick afterwards. She didn’t mentioned that to Hugo, for as much as she liked when he worried about her – honestly, was that even normal? How could a normal person like that? – she had some kind of pride after all.

She met Derek on Friday morning as she retrieved the letters from Lavender’s office and asked him confirmation of their second non-date – in what moment did those become dates? – and he smiled and told her that he was going to wait for her at seven, and that he hoped she liked lamb and mushrooms.

She had to mentally slap herself for having ignored the fact that he took for granted that she would have dinner at his. “I love lamb,” she replied. “Are you going to cook?”

He nodded. “Try to,” he replied. “I don’t know why, but I’m terrible at the easiest things, but I’m alright when I make some complicated dish that nobody usually like.”  

She smiled. “I’m sure I’ll love it,” she replied. “Listen, I’m… I’m going to play Quidditch tomorrow afternoon, with professional Quidditch players…”

“I didn’t know you played,” he beamed. “You’re multitalented!”

“I don’t usually play,” she admitted, “but they say it’s a friendly match and I want to believe them.” She sighed and added, “Hugo doesn’t, though, so in case he’s right and you don’t see me in the evening… it’s because I’m being brought to St Mungo’s, alright?”

He chuckled again, probably thinking it a joke. “Okay, if I don’t see you, I’ll come to St Mungo’s, any preferences for the flowers? Lilies?”

She smiled. “Despite the joke, I like lilies,” she admitted.

“Perfect, I’ll bring lilies and lamb to St Mungo’s if I don’t see you, then,” he grinned.

“Great, I’ll wait for you, then.”

He smiled fondly. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow, Lily,” he murmured, “very much.”

She smiled back, blushing at his words. “Me too.”

***

Victoire was able to take Remus home on Friday afternoon. The poor baby had had the sneezes for two days, otherwise they would have managed to get out earlier.

Lily helped the two of them settling in their cottage in Cambridge. While Teddy was at work, she held the baby longer than she felt confident to do, while Victoire prepared the tiny bed. Afterwards, Lily almost didn’t want to let him go.

“He’s tired,” said Victoire with a newfound gentleness since she’d become a mother. “He’ll play with you next time.”

Lily pouted only slightly, and let her take Remus away. The baby yawned and his hair changed from blue to green as his mother rocked him in her arms, and Lily swooned with such abandon that even Victoire giggled.

When Victoire came back into the living room, she smiled at Lily and offered her some ice-tea in a tall glass.

“He’s so cute,” she said for the umpteenth time, grinning.

“I know,” giggled Victoire. “The cutest baby I’ve ever seen. And I’m definitely not biased.”

“I’m not either, he’s cute.” She sighed and added, “I wouldn’t mind getting one too, where did you buy yours again?”

Victoire shook her head and giggled, amused. “You can come and baby-sit mine every time you want, you know that, right?”

She nodded. “Great, I’ll do it! Except on Saturday nights, obviously. Or on Sundays. Or during the week because I work and have to wake up at least before nine…”

Her cousin snorted. “Alright, I get it. Anyway, are you really going to play Quidditch with those professional Quidditch players tomorrow? Is that safe? Have you invited Derek to cheer you?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “Yes, I am, and I hope it’s safe, and no, I didn’t, but I told him to come and visit me at St Mungo’s if he doesn’t see me at his house at seven.”

Victoire cocked an eyebrow. “Let’s hope it’s actually safe, then,” she said gently. “At least, I hope Hugo is going to look after you.”

Lily rolled her eyes half-heartedly. “I’m sure he will, but—contrary to what you and everybody else may think—I really don’t need someone to look after me.”

Victoire smiled gently. “I know,” she replied. “But isn’t it nice when someone loves us so much that they want to look after us?”

Lily’s smiled back. “Yeah,” she whispered. “It’s real nice.”

***

There was a luminescent ball hovering over Lily’s bed and it looked like a little, colourful sun, with happy-looking rays that swung placidly at the sound of a gentle melody. It floated from the foot of the bed to her pillow and when the rays caressed her cheeks, she smiled and closed her eyes again, snuggling down under the sheets.

“It’s supposed to be an alarm clock,” said Hugo from the door, “not making you feel like you want to go back to sleep.”

She stretched and smiled. “An alarm? I thought I was still dreaming,” she yawned. She opened her eyes and looked at the ball. “It’s pretty,” she said, stretching a hand to touch it. The moment her fingertips brushed against the soft ball, it deflated like a balloon and blew raspberries as it flew around the room.

“Oh.”

“You just turned it off.”

She sighed and pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes vigorously before looking at Hugo. He was standing there in a pair of white shorts, with a bowl of cereal in his hands, his curly hair was more tangled than usual, and some sleep wrinkles were still impressed on his naked chest.

“My mum used to wake us up like that when we were little,” he said. “Makes the awakening much less traumatic, doesn’t it?”

She pushed the sheets back and nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed, as she placed her feet on the floor and tried to understand what she was supposed to do. “What’s the time?”

“Half past six.”

It took her a few long moments to understand what he had said; she thought she had misunderstood, at first. “Beg your pardon?” she asked, furrowing her brow.

“Half past six,” he repeated calmly.

“In the afternoon?”

He shook his head and smiled.

She furrowed her brow even more deeply. “There’s no such thing as half past six in the morning.”

“Well, there must be because… this is it!” He grinned and she groaned.

Lying back down, she cocooned herself in her sheets. “Get out!” she grunted. “Are you out of your mind? Normal people sleep at this time of day.”

He chuckled again and she could feel his steps getting closer to her bed. She tightened her fingers around the sheets, ready to fight with him for a few more hours of sleep. What was wrong with him anyway? It was Saturday, and the Quidditch match wasn’t until later that afternoon.

“I thought you wanted to play,” he said.

“I want to sleep too, though,” she replied sourly. “And the Quidditch match isn’t for another gazillion hours. So leave me be.”

His hand grabbed the sheets over her head, but he didn’t pull. “First, you need a good, energetic breakfast,” he said, “then we have to be at Marie’s house in an hour, do a bit of warm up and a trial match, then we’re having lunch and in the afternoon we’re having the actual friendly match.”

“What?” she moaned. “I didn’t sign up for this. I thought it was just a match in the afternoon!”

He finally tugged at the sheets, until her head came into view. “You need a bit of a warm up, and Marie’s offering lunch, it would be unkind of us to show up only in the afternoon,” he said. “You promised her and you were the one who insisted for the whole week that you wanted to go.”

She looked up at his smiling face, feeling as if he was going to say, “I told you so!” She really couldn’t let him.

“Alright,” she sighed. “I’m going to take a shower.” She sat up and took her time to finally stand up.

“What do you want for breakfast?”

She walked past him, stretching her arms over her head and glancing askew at his face. “Surprise me,” she said. “It’s too early for me to think about breakfast anyway.”

He snorted, but she slid out of her room and into the bathroom before he could retort something about how lazy she was. She almost fell asleep again in the shower, but was jerked awake by the water running into her nose.

She dried herself and tied her hair up over her head. When she was about to grab the first thing from the pile of clothes on her floor, though, she reminded herself that she was going to play Quidditch with other three beautiful girls, and that probably she should choose something a bit flattering, unless she wanted to end up looking like a troll compared to them.

Maybe a pretty top, she had one that said _Quidditch Star_ in gold on a blue background, but it really smelled and she had probably forgotten to wash it since the last time she wore it. On the other hand, the t-shirt that her mother had gotten her as a joke for her last birthday – “I’m Harry Potter’s daughter” with her father’s face flashing both on the front and the back – was immaculate, and she was determined to keep it that way. She was a bit wary of her green top that said _Quidditch Babe_ in a blue writing, a present from her brothers, who had not unfolded it when they bought it and thought it only said “Quidditch”. They had been horrified to realise they had gotten her something that sounded definitely sexual.

She Summoned a pair of shorts, instead, deciding that the best choice was fleece ones – the more comfortable ones, especially if she was going to sweat in them and then eat like a piglet to recover her strength. The bad thing was that they looked great with the _Quidditch Babe_ top.

“Oh screw it,” she muttered, deciding that she had wasted enough time. “It’s going to be fun to explain how I got the top anyway.”

She donned her trainers and made her way to the kitchen, where the delicious smell of bacon and eggs made her feel only mildly nauseated at that time of day.

Hugo turned to look at her as she walked in.

“I’m not really starving,” she announced, going towards the table and sitting down, “but I’ll sacrifice myself and eat everything you cooked. Just because I’m _that_ nice.”

She opened a napkin and placed it in front of her top, not wanting to dirty it and then having to go through more grief as she chose another t-shirt.

Hugo walked towards her, he placed a plate filled with eggs, bacon and buttered toast in front of her, and didn’t move.

“Thank you,” she said. “Smells good. I could do with a cup of tea too…”

He put one in front of her before she even understood that he had moved, followed by a tall glass of orange juice. She looked up at him, grinning. “Well, if they don’t hire you at Puddlemere, I’m sure that Hannah—what?”

He was looking down at her with his lips parted in surprise and eyes wide. “You’re wearing that?” he asked in disbelief.

She furrowed her brow and looked at her chest. He probably meant the top, not the napkin she had spread over it. “Course I am,” she replied. “Why? It’s fun, it’s comfortable, and I have a fun story to go with it. The perfect thing to joke about with people I don’t know very well, just to break the ice a bit.”

He crossed his arms on his chest. He was wearing a Chudley Cannons vintage t-shirt, just for fun too, she imagined. “You have to go and change,” he said firmly. “That’s too… _skimpy_. Some of the guys who play with me… they… you know…” He raised his eyebrows as if his half-sentence explained his remonstration. Lily wasn’t sure it did.

“What? Oh Hugo, please,” she replied with a wave of her hand. “I’m not five, you’re not my father, and this was a present from my brothers. So, will you please shut up, let me eat in peace and avoid fighting about what I’m wearing first thing in the morning?”

He pressed his lips together and gave her a curt nod. “Whatever,” he muttered sullenly. “We need to leave in twenty minutes, we’re using the Floo. I’ve got Marie’s address in my room.” He nodded towards the food. “Dig in.”

***

Marie’s house was not a house. It was an estate in the middle of the Cotswolds. Of course, when she had said that she had a Quidditch pitch in the back garden, they should have imagined that she wasn’t talking about a cottage. But even if they had tried to imagine her house, this went beyond their wildest dreams.

The Floo Network was connected to a majestic fireplace carved into the wall of a brobdingnagian room with windows that went from the floor to the ceiling and that overlooked a swimming pool and a Quidditch pitch. Green hills stretched beyond that for as far as the eye could see.

“Bloody hell!” muttered Lily, looking at the marble floors and the beautiful pieces of furniture covered in elaborated brocades.

“I should take that as a compliment,” said a deep, amused voice that made both of them start.

It was only when the distinct gentleman rose from the armchair that Lily managed to locate him in that huge room. He was tall, slim and with a thick moustache under his nose. He was wearing a tweed suit and looked affable as he walked towards them with his hand stretched.

“I’m Marie’s father,” he introduced himself. His hand was soft and warm as it squeezed Lily’s.

“Nice to meet you, Mr Moffatt, I’m Lily.”

“And I’m Hugo.”

Mr Moffatt cocked an eyebrow as he shook Hugo’s hand. “Oh, Hugo Weasley, aren’t you? Marie told me every about you.”

Hugo smiled awkwardly at that. “I hope she said good things,” he said.

Mr Moffatt nodded softly. “Oh yes, don’t you worry. She’s very fond of you.”

Lily felt suddenly excluded from the conversation and a weird uneasy feeling rose at the bottom of her stomach, but it was silly of her to think that Marie would have mentioned her to her parents. They didn’t train together every day like she did with Hugo. It was only logical that Marie had lots of things to tell her father when it was up to talk about him.

“Marie and the others are in the backyard,” Mr Moffatt said, turning away and walking towards one of the high windows. He pushed down a white handle and only then Lily noticed that at least one the windows was in fact a glass door. “Go straight towards the posts, you can’t miss it.”

They walked through a colourful garden, where peonies, roses, and geraniums bordered a tiny path covered in grey stones. “Doesn’t Marie have a brother?” asked Lily as they walked through an arc covered in wisteria flowers.

“She’s an only child,” he replied. “Why?”

“Hello. I wouldn’t mind marrying into this.” She stretched her arms to show him all those gardens and the Quidditch pitch in front of them where tiny people were already flying around.

He chuckled. “You can marry Marie,” he said. “She keeps saying that you’re so cute…”

Lily grinned, but at that moment, the people in the Quidditch pitch seemed to notice them and started calling their names as they landed one by one like falling stars.

“You’re late,” announced Marie brightly. “We thought you had almost decided not to come.”

“Lily is not an early riser,” said Hugo, patting her head before he went to pat other people’s shoulders and hugged the girls.

Lily blushed. “Sorry. I’m not used to wake up too early,” she mumbled. “I went to bed late too…”

Marie giggled and hugged her tightly. “Don’t worry, I was joking! We’ve just started! Oh, I love your top!”

“Thank you! My brothers bought it for me,” she grinned. “They didn’t unfold it, and didn’t notice the ‘babe’, they were horrified when I opened it…”

Marie and the others started laughing and Lily with them. See? Great ice-breaker.

“Alright,” said McLaggen. “We’re doing a bit of a warm up, throwing around some training Quaffles.”

“Lily, will you play with me?” asked Julia. “I’m a Seeker too, and Marie was killing me with that Quaffle.” Her hand closed around Lily’s and she dragged her away and towards the centre of the pitch. Lily had just the time to see that Marie was beaming up at Hugo before she mounted her old broom she had brought from home and pushed herself up in the air.

Julia grabbed one of the many Quaffles on the ground and flew a bit away from her. “Ready?” she asked, and before Lily could reply, she had already thrown the ball to her.

The first thrown was fast and strong, much more difficult to intercept than Lily had expected, and she had to swallow a cry when her wrist was pushed back in an uncomfortable position, and then another when she sent the Quaffle back to Julia with an embarrassingly weak thrown of her own.

“Sorry!” she said, blushing and hoping that the other people were too busy with their own Quaffles to notice her poor performance. “I’m a bit out of shape.”

Julia smiled gently at her. “Don’t you worry one bit,” she said calmly. “We’ll take it easy.”

But her easy wasn’t exactly Lily’s easy, and soon Lily’s arms were covered in red spots that were quickly turning purple in all the places that the Quaffle had hit her. She could feel the sweat pouring down her cleavage and the pain in her arms, and she hoped that Hugo or any other handsome young man didn’t notice her transformation from a girl into a puddle of sweat.

“Alright,” shouted Marie. “Ready for a bit of a match?”

Lily wasn’t. She was feeling supremely inferior to those people, she hurt everywhere, she was already tired, and she really didn’t think she would be as fast as Julia if they both found the Snitch.

She flew towards Maggie as she saw Hugo making his way towards her, not wanting to let him have another reason to say, “I told you so.”

“McLaggen, want to be Captain?” asked Marie. “And Hugo?”

McLaggen grinned and nodded. “Sounds good,” he replied, flying to Marie and hovering next to Hugo. “Hmm… Smith.”

“Lily,” said Hugo straight away. She knew he was doing that because otherwise, she would be picked last, and she was both grateful and a bit annoyed by that. God! She was incredibly hard to please.

She flew to Hugo, eyes low, as he and McLaggen called out name after name. McLaggen chose Julia, Hugo got Marie and John, and a bunch of other people. A thin guy named Marco wasn’t even picked and he gracefully accepted to be the referee.

“You don’t look very good,” whispered Hugo as he flew to her. “You can take a break if you want. Play this afternoon.”

“I’m perfectly fine, ta very much,” she lied, flying farther away as the other players headed towards the centre of the pitch.

“Ready?” asked Marco. He released the Bludgers and the Snitch, which twirled around Lily as if it was mocking her, and then disappeared. “And… Go!” He threw the Quaffle in the air and McLaggen grabbed it straight away, hurrying towards the posts.

Marie was quick to hit a Bludger in his direction though, and the ball hit his broom and made him lose the Quaffle fast enough. McLaggen cursed out loud and people laughed as John grabbed the ball and hurried to the opposite direction.

The first to score was McLaggen though, but the game was fast, much faster than Lily was used to back at Hogwarts. She barely had time to see the Quaffle under someone’s arm when a moment later a Bludger had hit them and they were howling in pain while someone else was already scoring. It looked terrifyingly like a professional match.

She scanned the sky for the Snitch, but despite the fact that the sun was high and the tiny golden ball should have been easy to spot, she could not see it anywhere.

Julia was flying here and there, but Lily was too tired to move from the border of the pitch where nobody was bothering her. She laid her eyes on Hugo. He was laughing and swinging that bat and hitting those Bludgers with a precision and strength that made Lily smile in awe. It was a pleasure to watch him play, she knew that he was good already, but now that she looked at him closely, she just felt like he was surely going to get chosen for Puddlemere in September. There was no one else at his level.

“Lily! Lily!” She blinked when someone called her name, then she saw it, the Snitch and Julia flying right behind it. She knew before she sprinted forward that she would never reach it, but it would be silly not to try to catch it.

She threw herself behind Julia, flattening her body to the broom as best as she could. She was going faster than she ever remembered going and she was in fact reaching the other Seeker, but that Snitch kept changing direction and she had to keep steering her broom right and left to avoid other players, Bludgers, and the posts more than once.

She heard screams and laughter, but her ears were filled with the noise of the wind and she couldn’t recognise any word nor any familiar voice. She tried to focus on the Snitch, which seemed to be as elusive for her as it was for Julia.

She was gaining ground on Julia because she was tailoring her closely now, flying in her contrail, but she had to overtake her if she wanted to grab that Snitch. They flew past the posts and dove towards the ground, Julia’s broom was so close to hers she could almost touch it. They flew near a rose bush and Lily heard Julia scream in pain as she herself felt little wounds open on her legs. Damn thorns! She lowered her eyes for a moment to look at her bloody shins and then everything happened so quickly that she almost didn’t understand what had happened at all. Only that a second before she was flying, and a second later she was underwater, aching everywhere, and another fistful of seconds later someone was dragging her towards the surface.

“Are you okay? Lily? Lily!”

She blinked and spluttered some water, and when Hugo pulled her up into a sitting position, she was finally able to see Julia coughing water next to her, the Snitch secured in her hand.

“Are you okay?” asked Hugo again.

She pushed him away a bit. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “I… I wasn’t looking where I was going…”

“Damn roses,” said Marie as she promptly Healed Lily’s legs. “I told my mum to cut them, that they were a hazard, but she wouldn’t listen.” She stretched a hand towards Lily, smiling warmly. “Come. We’ll dry and get ready for lunch, hope you’re hungry, because there’s more food than we know what to do with.”

She let Marie drag her towards the estate with Maggie and Julia, while the guys stood there, laughing, patting each other’s backs and butts and mounting their brooms again to start a race or diving into the pool.

“I’m sorry, Lily,” whispered Marie as they took off their shoes and walked into the house.

“What? No, no! It’s my fault.” She turned towards Julia and smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry I crashed into you, Julia, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Julia smiled brightly back at her. “It was fun,” she replied, “but I think I might have kicked you in the head as I tried to grab the Snitch and stay afloat.”

She brought a hand to the side of her head, it did hurt a bit, and it might have explained why for a moment she was just so confused under the water. “It’s alright,” she replied lightly. “I didn’t even notice.”

“But we’re not sorry for that,” added Maggie.

They walked through an immense hall and up the stairs, up to Marie’s room. It was gigantic, perfectly clean and tidy, and with a wall covered in Quidditch posters and a vanity covered in makeup and perfumes.

“No,” admitted Marie. “We’re sorry for last week.”

“Yeah,” agreed Julia. “We shouldn’t have forced you to drink that much.”

Maggie nodded. “We thought we were being fun, but we weren’t.”

Lily looked from one girl to the other, her mouth wide open. “What?” she said in disbelief. “No, what are you talking about? I had fun too! It was fun, I swear! I just… I just… I’m not used to drinking that much. But it was fun, and I still remember how to drink tequila!” She giggled, but the other three girls just glanced at each other.

“Are you sure?” asked Julia softly.

She nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes! Of course I’m sure. Oh my! Do I look like I’m angry? I had the time of my life!” It wasn’t exactly true, but it hadn’t been such a bad evening that required apologises from the girls.

“Are you really sure?” asked Marie. “Because Hugo…”

Lily looked at her. “Hugo what?” she asked sharply. “What did he say?”

The girls swallowed and glanced at each other again. “He wasn’t very happy,” said Maggie.

“Oh Merlin no,” agreed Julia.

“He was furious with us,” said Marie miserably. “We’ve never seen him like that. He looked ready to hex us.”

“But he didn’t, did he?” asked Lily anxiously.

“Nah,” replied Julia, shrugging a shoulder, “but he made us feel terrible.”

“But you didn’t do anything!” snapped Lily. “I decided to drink, and I decided to come with you from pub to pub. You didn’t force me.”

The girls smiled shyly. “Really?” asked Julia. “You’re not angry?”

“Oh, I’m angry alright,” muttered Lily. “Not with you though.”

Marie smiled and placed a hand on Lily’s arm, making her wince as she pressed against a fresh bruise. “Oh, Lily, don’t be,” she coaxed. “He was just concerned.”

“Yes,” said Maggie, “I think it’s cute that he worries about you _so_ much.” She stressed that “so” way too much, and added a grin for good measure.

Lily looked away from her and shrugged a shoulder. “Everybody in my family cares about everybody,” she replied, blushing for some reason. “We’re a very tight-knit family.” 

She didn’t look up when the girls moved around her, giggling and whispering words that she didn’t care to catch. She knew they were insinuating that something was going on between Hugo and herself, and she was determined not to give them a reason to tease. Luckily, they seemed to lose interest quite quickly.

Marie used a Hot-Air Charm on her and she felt her hair and her clothes dry up instantaneously. Then she was turned around and pushed down over a footstool; Julie untied her hair and started to brush it vigorously. “I love your hair,” she said as she combed out the knots. “I wish mine was this colour too.”

“Do you want to keep the bruises a bit longer?” asked Maggie as she examined her arms. “They are useful to intimidate the opposing team.”

Lily looked down at her arms. “Yeah, that’s fine,” she replied. “I’ll Heal them, tonight.”

“Before we’re off to the pub. Sounds great,” said Marie. “You’re going to have fun and I promise you won’t have to drink a drop of alcohol if you or Hugo don’t want to!”

She raised her eyes on the girl. “The pub?” she asked. “Oh, I’m sorry, but I can’t come to the pub with you, tonight. I… I have a commitment. I need to leave at about five in the afternoon to get ready.”

“Oh, no, Lily!”

“Come on!”

“Please!” said Marie, putting on a gigantic smile. “It’ll be fun, I swear.”

Lily bit her bottom lip. “I really can’t, I’m sorry,” she replied, “but thank you for the invitation.”

The girls sighed and pouted, looking sorry that she wouldn’t be there in the evening. Oh well, she had a non-date and she didn’t want Derek to go to St Mungo’s all worried while she was having fun at the pub. “Sorry,” she repeated.

Marie nodded. “Shall we go back? I bet the guys are starving, and… I’m too, to be honest.”

There was a chorus of yeses and they made their way back to the back garden, where Mr and Mrs Moffatt were busy grilling a mountain of meat and the guys were either helping them or setting the long table under the wisteria-covered arbour.

“You must be Lily,” said Marie’s mother. “I heard you had a close encounter with my rose bushes.”

Lily blushed crimson at that. “I’m sorry, Ma’am, I tried really hard not to touch them.”

The woman, a tall and slender middle-aged lady, waved a hand in front of her. “Oh please, the important thing is that you’re alright,” she said gently.

Lily nodded softly. “I am, thank you,” she replied. “Marie Healed the cuts.”

“But she didn’t Heal your bruises,” she nodded towards her arms, and some of the guys turned to look at her too.

“Deliberately, Mum,” sighed Marie, dragging Lily away. “She’s going to look intimidating like that.”

“But they must hurt,” said McLaggen, grabbing her arm to have a closer look at the pattern of bruises decorating her skin. “Probably they’re going to hinder her performance.”

Lily withdrew her hand. “I’m fine, thank you,” she replied.

“And you don’t look very intimidating, really,” he went on. “You look more like someone who has slipped and fell. In a meat grinder.”

She rolled her eyes, but Julia elbowed him in his ribs so forcefully that he doubled up with pain. The others laughed and Lily joined them, then they sat for lunch and there was a lot of meat and eggs on toast and avocadoes and all things energetic enough for a group of Quidditch players. Mr and Mrs Moffatt joined them and Lily was surprised to notice that they didn’t have house-elves or servants of any kind.

They sat at the table for hours, eating, drinking plenty of water and fruit juices, chatting and finally drawing the names of the captains for the actual teams of the upcoming friendly match.

“Julia,” declared Marie, fishing the name out of a silver goblet, “and McLaggen. Again.”

“Hey, I do have a name, you know!” protested McLaggen.

“Yeah, but there are two Johns, you get to be McLaggen,” giggled Maggie.

“Shall the draw the entire teams?” asked Marie, thoughtfully swirling her wand over the goblet.

“No! I want to choose my own,” protested McLaggen. “Weasley, Moffatt, Smith, Maggie—”

“Hey! It’s one and one, you can’t choose an entire team, you idiot!” protested Julia.

McLaggen rolled his eyes. “Weasley,” he said again.

“Ladies first! Weasley,” snapped Julia.

“Oh Merlin!” grunted Marie. “Enough, we’ll get random teams from the goblet.” She flicked her wand and six pieces of parchment flew towards McLaggen while other six flew towards Julia.

“Referee,” she announced, catching the one piece that was flying towards her, “Maggie.”

Maggie groaned and grabbed a piece of avocado from a plate in the middle, muttering under her breath about the stupid goblet.

Marie turned towards Julia. “Read the names, please.”

Julia cleared her throat. “John,” she said, “Lily, Smith, William, Locke and Harry.”

“Yes! Ah! Take that,” cheered McLaggen as he wrapped an arm around Hugo’s neck and one around Marie. “Best team. We’re going to destroy them.”

There was laughter and protestations, then they all made their way towards their brooms, taking off quickly.

“You’re our Seeker, Lily,” said Julia. “I’ll be a Chaser.”

“Thank you,” she said, even though she suspected that Julia could see perfectly well that Lily would be a very crappy Chaser indeed.

She grasped her broom and stretched her arms as she took off, noticing that McLaggen was right: they did hurt quite a lot. She wondered if he was also right about the intimidating part, and she just looked like someone who had clumsily fallen into a meat grinder.

She looked around herself, wondering when Hugo would fly next to her and start asking her if she was alright, if she was in pain, if he needed him to do something for her. She didn’t want him to treat her like a child in front of his friends, but when she noticed that he didn’t so much as looked at her, she almost felt disappointed.

Bloody hell! What was wrong with her? She was never happy!

“Ready?” called Maggie as she set the Bludgers and the Snitch free. “Set. Go!” She threw the Quaffle and McLaggen was the first one to grab it and fly towards the posts.

Lily grabbed her broom firmly in her hands, staring at the game unfolding before her eyes. It looked like they were flying even faster than before, but that was probably just her tired mind tricking her. She felt sluggish already, and she hurt everywhere. She knew that the moment she found the Snitch she would never manage to be fast enough to catch it.

Hugo hit a Bludger towards Julia, but she dodged it at the last minute, she lost the Quaffle though and let out a frustrated cry as McLaggen grabbed it. Marie raised her bat, knocked it against Hugo’s, and they smiled at each other as if they were a team inside their team.

Lily darkened. She felt irrationally jealous as she looked at them, and decided that she was better off looking at something else. The Snitch for example, after all the sooner she found it, the sooner she would go home and get ready for her non-date. Now that she thought about it, she was getting quite nervous about that evening. She had no clue what to wear, and no desire to look through her clothes again. Maybe she could flutter her eyelashes at Hugo the following day and ask him to help her tidying up her room. He wanted to spend time with her, what better way than her reading aloud from Witch Weekly for him while he folded her tops and piled them tidily in her drawers? And there were the letters, too.

She narrowed her eyes and screened them with a hand over her forehead. Where was that wicked ball? She imagined how her teammates would cheer her if she found it before the other team. She didn’t even know who the Seeker for the other team was. Bloody hell! She was useless!

She stared as Harry saved a Quaffle with the tail of his broom, and Julia grabbed it, scoring in less than a second. “Take that!” she shouted at McLaggen.

Marie threw her a Bludger though, and she lost control of her broom, falling towards the ground until John grabbed her arm before she could hit the ground. She Summoned her broom again and mounted on it, glaring at Marie and throwing herself towards the opposing Chasers to try to regain the Quaffle again.

Lily stared at Marie even as their host waved her hand near her ear, annoyed by something that was flying close to her face. Something small and shiny. Something gold and winged.

Lily flattened against her broom and threw herself after the Snitch. This time she was the first one to have seen it, the first one to try to catch it; she had a very good feeling about it.

She could hear the screams again, and now someone was flying really close to her, tailoring more insistently than she had tailored Julia before. He was much faster than she was too, and Lily knew that she had to keep herself focused on the Snitch this time because she didn’t want to commit the same mistake as she did before.

She ducked even lower to avoid a Bludger, and heard Hugo’s voice screaming something. She was upset that he had tried to throw her off her broom, but if he was angry with her because she had pushed him away earlier on, well… fine by her! She was going to grab that Snitch and show him what a good player she still was!

She flew close to the surface of the swimming pool and, seconds later, she twirled as she slalomed the many chimneystacks on the roof of the estate. The other Seeker got closer and closer and she could almost feel him breathing on her neck. She stretched her hand towards the Snitch, but then it disappeared through a tree and Lily had to follow it through one of the gardens and she flattened against her broom again to fly through the arcs.

She almost ate a peony as she passed by a bush. Then they were back into the pitch, flying as quickly as she had never done before. Even quicker than that morning. She tried to sprint forward, stretching her hand towards the Snitch, she was almost there almost there…

Then it happened again! Lily didn’t even know _how_ it had happened, but she crashed into someone once more. This time, an arm hit her side with more force than an arm should, she lost her balance and fell from her broom. Luckily, she was flying close to the ground so the impact wasn’t really that hard, but then a tall and heavy body fell half on top of her and she let out a moan as more bruises were added to the ones from the morning.

“Shite,” groaned Hugo near her face.

She turned to look at him. Of all the people in that pitch, she had to crash against…

Her thoughts trailed away. He was pale and matted with sweat, and she felt guilty and embarrassed that she had caused him all that pain. She pushed him off of her a bit and sat up.

“Ouch!” he shouted, bringing his right arm to his left one.

And now Lily could see his arm. Red and purple, and swollen and… broken. Definitely broken.

“Oh Hugo!” she cried, moving back until she was sitting next to his face. She raised his head into her lap. “Oh, bloody hell! Did I do that?”

“I told you not to send a Bludger towards her,” was snapping McLaggen as he landed next to them.

“I didn’t,” replied Marie, her voice nervous. “How could I have aimed at her? She was going too fast!”

McLaggen shook his head and knelt next to Hugo while the others landed around them. “Hey, Weasley, you okay?”

Hugo took a sharp breath and Lily caressed his hair out of his eyes. “Yeah,” he muttered, “just a broken arm, I guess.”

Lily placed her hands over his forehead. “Oh bloody hell! Did I do it? Did I break your arm? I’m so sorry, Hugo! I wasn’t looking where I was going!”

McLaggen snorted. “No, you didn’t,” he assured her. “He shielded you from a Bludger that Marie sent towards you.”

“I didn’t!” cried Marie. “I wasn’t aiming for her!”

“I saw you,” snapped McLaggen.

But Lily wasn’t paying the quarrel any attention. Hugo’s blue eyes were shiny now and he was paler and paler by the second as he kept his arm flat to his chest and groaned in pain.

“Hugo,” she whispered, caressing his cheeks. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Yeah, no problem,” he replied quietly, smiling tiredly at her.

She lowered and kissed his forehead comfortingly before caressing his hair once again. “He needs to go to the hospital,” stated Lily.

The others stopped talking and quarrelling about Marie and the Bludger, and started laughing.

Lily’s face darkened. “What? I’m serious! He broke his arm!”

“We break something every day,” said Maggie. “We’ve been Healed so many times that we don’t even go to the Healers anymore.”

“Yeah,” agreed John. He took out his wand and pointed it to Hugo’s arm. “ _Brackium Emendo_ ,” he said.

Hugo arched his back off the ground and gritted his teeth, but when he opened his eyes and looked up at Lily she could tell that he was feeling better already. He stretched his Healed arm and flexed it a couple of times.

“You okay?” asked John.

Hugo nodded and grinned. “Like new,” he replied.

He was pulled to his feet – rather rudely, in Lily’s opinion – and then patted on his shoulders.

“We should probably go home,” said Lily, as she stood up too. “You need to rest and I need to—”

“What?” snorted Marie. “Now, don’t be ridiculous, Lily! He’s fine, we can all go inside and lounge on the sofas before we get ready for the evening.”

Hugo looked at Marie, his teeth torturing his bottom lip. “Probably Lily’s right, I don’t feel like going out tonight anyway,” he admitted.

Marie’s face darkened. “But you promised,” she protested, very much like a child, Lily noticed. “You said you were looking forward to going out.”

“That was before he broke his arm,” stated Lily.

Marie didn’t look at her, but rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she muttered.

Hugo seemed to be wanting to swallow his bottom lip as he looked from one girl to the other. “Alright, you’re right, I promised,” he admitted softly. He turned towards Lily and smiled gently. “Is it okay if I stay?”

Lily looked at him, surprised that he would ask for her permission. “You’re a grown man,” she said dryly. “You can do anything you want.”

She was even more surprised when his smile vacillated and he nodded curtly. Did he want her to tell him to come home with her? Should she fight with his friends because she thought she was doing what was good for him? But he looked perfectly happy as Marie placed her hands over his hips and beamed up at him.

“You should stay too, Lily,” said Maggie, grinning. “We’re going to have fun.”

“I have a date,” she replied curtly, looking away from the happy couple. “I’m sorry. Next time, maybe.” She bid goodbye to the others and grabbed her broom, hauling it over her shoulder and making her way back towards the estate.


	13. Chapter 13

***

Lily stretched an arm in front of her, but stopped shy of knocking on the door. She furrowed her brow and looked frantically at the bruises that she had forgotten to either Heal or conceal. She was covered in them, and they stood out on her pale skin like stains of ink on parchment.

The dress she had chosen for the evening didn’t help either. Sleeveless and rather on the short side, with big white dots on a bright yellow field, it did nothing to hide the contusions. She looked as if she had been beaten up to a pulp in a fight.

She took a deep breath and finally stretched her arm again, knocking resolutely this time. When she withdrew it, she bit her bottom lip and waited for Derek to open the door, her other hand squeezing nervously the box of chocolates she had brought for dessert.

Derek was swift, she could hear his quick steps nearing from behind the door and, when he opened it, a delicious smell of lamb and roasted potatoes wafted into the landing where she was standing.

“Hi,” he said, smiling brightly. “You look beautiful.”

She smiled back, flushing a bit before stepping inside as he moved away from the door. “Thank you,” she replied. “You look pretty neat, too.” She moved her eyes from his flushed face to his immaculate shirt and his black trousers, and then back up again. “I brought this,” she said, stretching her arm towards him to hand him the chocolates.

“You shouldn’t have, Lily,” he beamed, taking the box from her hands and placing it on a coffee table as he guided her to the kitchen. The table in the dining room was set impeccably well, there was Italian bread and grissini in the middle as well as some candles. From the kitchen, she could hear the pots and pans emit all sorts of noises on the hobs and Lily licked her lips as she followed him in there.

“This smells so good,” she admitted. “You’ll have to give me the recipe.” She chastised herself immediately. She couldn’t cook, what was she asking the recipe for?

He fumbled with a bottle for a moment and, when he turned towards her, he had a glass of red wine in each hand. He smiled as he handed her one. “Absolutely,” he said. “I can give you the recipe and show you too, if you want.”

She smiled. A cooking lesson? That was a surprisingly good idea, actually. It would be perfect to surprise Hugo with something elaborated, one of these evenings. She could already see his solemn face as he told her that he was humbled by her culinary skills.

“To you, Lily,” said Derek, raising his glass and tilting it a bit towards her. “May you become the new junior Quidditch correspondent before the end of the summer.”

“That’s a great toast,” she giggled, clinking her glass with his. “And to you… may you… hum… May you create as much art as you like about whatever you like…?” It was a lousy toast, she was well aware of that, but she had no clue what to say. She raised her glass and waited for him to clink his with hers.

“Oh my word!” he said instead, placing his glass on the counter and grabbing her wrist gently in his hands. “Are these from the match?”

She blushed and nodded. “Yeah, they really beat me up to a pulp,” she sighed.

“Do they hurt? Have you seen a Healer?” he asked concerned.

Lily withdrew her hand and handed him back his glass. “Real Quidditch players don’t need Healers,” she said trying to mimicry a man’s voice. “They’re not pretty, but they don’t hurt.” She pressed her fingers on a big bruise on her forearm and hissed. “If I don’t touch them.”

“Well, let me know if you need anything,” he said seriously. He finally clinked his glass with hers and smiled as they sipped the sweet wine. “I’m not a drinker,” he admitted, “but I think Elf-made Wine marries well with lamb.”

“I’m not an expert,” she replied, preferring not to mention her latest exploits with alcohol, “but I trust you.”

He smiled, turned towards the pans, opened them, stirred the various dishes and checked them thoroughly, and Lily closed her eyes as she inhaled the mouth-watering smells.

“So, who won?” he asked her. “Did you manage to catch the Snitch?”

“Why would you assume that I’m a Seeker?” she asked back.

He turned towards her and bit his bottom lip, almost embarrassed. “Well, you don’t really look like a Keeper or a Beater to me,” he admitted, “and I thought that as small as you are… not that you’re extremely small, I mean too short, you’re… you’re perfect, I just thought… Oh I shouldn’t have assumed anything, you’re a Chaser, right?”

She giggled, finding his embarrassment sweet. “I’m a Seeker,” she admitted. “Yeah, I don’t really look like I could play in any other position, right? James jokes that I could be the Snitch when we play at the Burrow.” She sipped some more wine and added, “James’ my brother and the Burrow is my grandparents’ house, by the way.”

Derek nodded with interest as she gave him some information about her family.

“But I didn’t manage to catch the Snitch, not even once,” she sighed. “But it wasn’t my fault, to be honest! First, I flew through a rose bush and was distracted by the wounds and crashed against the other Seeker and into the swimming pool.” She shrugged a shoulder at his concerned face. “The second time, Hugo crashed into me on purpose.”

“What?”

She nodded. “Well, he shielded me from a Bludger,” she explained, “but he crashed into me mere seconds before I could grab that wicked ball! I was that close, I swear!”

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Were you hurt?”

“Not too badly,” she admitted. “He was, though. He broke his arm. But they Healed him in a matter of seconds.”

“Oh, no need to take him to St Mungo’s?” asked Derek as if he thought that it was wild and highly irresponsible of them not to have him checked.

Lily shook her head. “None,” she replied before darkening. “I told him to come home with me and rest, but he decided to go out with his friends nonetheless.” She lowered her eyes, the image of Marie with her hands on his hips and her beaming smile had haunted her for the rest of the afternoon, and she couldn’t think about Hugo without imagining him snogging Marie passionately, and the thought gave her the chills.

Derek’s warm fingers brushed against her arm. “You’re worried,” he said gently.

She shook herself out of her thoughts. “No, he’s old enough to take care of himself,” she said, trying to sound cheerful when she was probably just bitter.

He nodded gently. “Dinner is ready,” he announced. “Why don’t you sit down and let me take everything to the table?”

She grabbed his glass and went to place it with hers on the table. “Let me help you.”

“Don’t be silly,” he replied, dishing the lamb with mushrooms and the potatoes. “I think you’ve done enough for today.” He bit his bottom lip as he looked at the lamb. “Maybe you can… if you want… light up the candles on the table…”

“That’s a lovely idea,” she reassured him. She drew out her wand and lit up the candles, then smiled at him as he carried their dinner to the table, and she made some lights fluctuate in mid-air.

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” he said, setting the meat and the potatoes between the two plates.

She giggled. “It’s a mix of Hogwarts and some high-class restaurant, isn’t it?” she said. “Hmm, have I already said that this smells divine?”

“I hope it tastes good too,” he said, “and that you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will.”

And she did. It wasn’t difficult, really, the lamb was delicious, tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, and seasoned with a delicate gravy made with olives and almonds and juicy mushrooms. And the roasted potatoes were mouth-watering, sprinkled as they were with rosemary and sage.

She ate in silence for most of the meal, too caught up in the flavours that were exploding on her tongue. She couldn’t believe that the man in front of her claimed to be unable to cook anything simple and was only able to create complicated dishes. She wondered what else he was able to cook so beautifully.

“Good?” he asked shyly after a good few minutes had gone by.

Lily looked up at him, eyes wide. “Delicious,” she breathed. “I have no words. This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever tried. I can’t wait to tell Hugo about it; he’s going to be so jealous. I’m sure he’s going to try and make it just to prove that he’s better than you!” She giggled at that. “I’ll tell you the results, Derek, but I’m pretty sure that he’ll never make something as good as this.”

She cut a slice of lamb and brought it to her mouth, chewing as politely as she never did back at home. When she looked back up at Derek, he was staring at her with a little frown between her eyebrows.

“What?” she asked.

He tilted his head a little as if he had difficulties expressing what he thought. “Why… hum… why would your cousin have to prove that he’s better than me?” he said unsurely. “I mean… No, I just don’t get it, sorry.”

Lily swallowed and washed down the meat with some wine before trying to attempt to a reasonable answer. “Oh,” she said, “I guess… I guess it’s because he can cook pretty well, and I always smother him with praises… I suppose he’ll probably feel a bit insecure after I tell him that you’ve cooked the best dish I’ve ever tried.”

He seemed reassured by her words. “Thank you,” he beamed. “And you’re right, don’t make him feel bad because of me though. And remember I can cook this but I can’t cook a hamburger or a simple shepherd’s pie for example.”

“There’s nothing simple about shepherd’s pie,” she told him lightly. “And I can teach you how to cook a steak and chips, if you want. I learnt the other day.”

He smiled. “Yes, our next date should be a cooking lesson,” he said, then he seemed to notice his slip up and recoiled at the word he had used. “I mean, our… our next meeting, if you want to come here again.”

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” she said brightly, “to teach each other how to cook. That’s exactly what Hugo suggested he should do with me. I’m sure that by the end of the summer I’ll be able to open an inn and compete with the Leaky Cauldron.”

Derek smiled too, but then looked away from her and finished his lamb in silence. So did Lily, at in the meantime she had to wonder if she had said something wrong, since he looked rather abashed all of a sudden.

“I hope you left a little room for dessert,” he said once they had finished. “And again I hope you like brownies.”

“I love brownies,” she exclaimed. “This is actually eerie, Derek: I was talking about brownies with Hugo this week, I’ve just learnt that he can make brownies, too, and he promised to make them next Saturday, when we invite our parents over for—oh, bloody hell!” She smiled apologetically for the curse. “I hardly think we can have our parents over. Next weekend is Rose’s birthday; she’ll surely make a lot of noise for her twentieth.”

He blinked; once again she had blabbed about more family without giving him the details.

“Rose is Hugo’s sister,” she explained. “And the weekend after that is my dad’s birthday. I mean, honestly… there’s no way we can invite our parents over until August and that makes me feel so much better.” She giggled and blushed. “I still haven’t unpacked everything, while Hugo’s room is all tidy and always clean, mine’s a mess…”

Derek smiled at her too, then he waved his wand and the empty plates flew towards the kitchen counter, piling neatly in the sink. “I’ll get the brownies,” he said.

“Honestly, Derek, I can help you.” She stood up, but he made her sit again.

“No need to,” he said. “I’ll only be a second, and you’re my guest.”

“Alright,” she said, not fighting too hard at all.

He was in fact very quick, little plates floated towards the table along with little forks and teaspoons, then a hot casserole of brownies that seemed to come fresh out of the oven followed suit, and finally he brought some Canary Cream ice-cream.

“This looks already scrumptious,” she said, licking her lips.

He cut off a big piece of brownie for her and covered in abundant ice-cream that started to melt as it came into contact with the hot dessert. “Dig in,” he told her, “before that ice-cream melts completely.”

Lily grinned. “If it does, I think I’ll have to get more, right?” she giggled.

He chuckled and nodded. “I’m afraid you’ll have to,” he agreed. “I really hope you’ll like it.”

She pushed a big bite in her mouth and chewed enthusiastically, making all sorts of delighted moans and groans. “I love it,” she sighed as she swallowed.

He nodded. “I can see that,” he chuckled. “So, tell me about your cousin, does he have a girlfriend or a boyfriend maybe?” he asked, poking his brownie with a fork.

“He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” she said. “There’s this girl who likes him at Quidditch trainings—the same girl who hosted the match today—I mean I think she likes him…” She furrowed her brow in concentration, thinking back to the week gone by. “I think she said something about her thinking that Hugo is fit, last week, but I don’t remember. She’s nice, but something weird happened today, now that I think about it…”

“Like what?”

She shook her head. “McLaggen said that she was the one who threw the Bludger at me, on purpose,” she replied thoughtfully. “But she said she didn’t. And I don’t know why she would have either, but McLaggen seemed—”

“Maybe she’s jealous of you and Hugo,” said Derek calmly. “Maybe she was trying to gun down the competition.”

Lily looked at him, startled by his suggestion. “Hugo’s my cousin,” she said, taken aback. “I thought I’ve already told you.”

Derek smiled softly. “Have you told her?”

She blushed. “Yes, of course, Hugo told her,” she said. “I really don’t know what you’re insinuating, but I’m—”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “It was silly of me; I was trying to be funny. Forgive me.” But he didn’t seem too contrite as he spoke, just bitter.

She decided to ignore his comment; maybe he was really trying to joke, even though he wasn’t being funny in the least. It was not her fault if she kept talking about Hugo, they lived together, what was she supposed to do? It was only logical that she thought about him most of the time, but that didn’t mean that people should start thinking that there was something going on between them. Because there wasn’t.

“Would you like to see my paintings?” asked Derek, his voice back to its normal gentleness, and when she looked up at him, he was smiling warmly at her.

She couldn’t do much but smile back. “I’d love to,” she said. “I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”

His smile became even brighter. He stretched a hand towards her and she looked at his face before taking it. He stood up and pulled her gently to her feet, smiling as he guided her through his living room. “I had to find a flat with two bedrooms,” he said, “and convert the second one into a study; otherwise I’d choke on the smell of paint.” He turned to look at her. “I opened the window before you came.” He squeezed her hand gently before pushing a door open.

Straight away, Lily knew what he had meant when he talked about the smell of paint. The air of the room was loaded with the heavy scent of acrylics and white water. It wasn’t stuffy, but the odour that reached her nostrils was definitely pungent.

He switched on a light and she was suddenly plummeted inside a jungle of colourful landscapes, smiling faces, and detailed particulars.

“Wow,” she breathed, letting go of Derek’s hand and walking towards a wall. One big canvas was covered in a beautiful rendition of a lavender field. The sun was low on the horizon and the flowers fluctuated in the wind. They really did, for the painting was charmed to recreate a soft breeze. Next to it, there was a corner of Hogsmeade, with the colourful and detailed window-shop of Honeydukes on the front, the many enchanted sweets moved behind the glass and there was a child pressing his hands over the window to look closely at it.

“They are gorgeous,” she breathed, moving on to the next one, a big lily flower with a ladybug crawling on its stem.

Derek didn’t reply, but when she turned to look at him, he was glowing, unable to keep a grin at bay.

She smiled too. “Do you paint them from memory or do you take pictures or…”

“I usually like to paint them from reality,” he said. He walked closer to her and pointed to the Honeydukes one. “I spent a whole weekend in Hogsmeade for this. The patron of the shop gave me a packet of Licorice Wands afterwards.”

Lily giggled. “That’s sweet.”

Derek nodded, and Lily turned away from him to keep looking at more paintings. On smaller canvases, there were details of buildings and many hands and eyes, as if he was trying to master the technique of those details.

She walked past a dog running behind a ball and a corner of Muggle London, and towards a corner of the room where a canvas taller than Lily was placed against the wall. It was unfinished, but it was clear that it would be a whole body portrait of Kingsley Shacklebolt. “Wow, that’s very realistic,” she said.

“Do you like it?” he asked her. He took the canvas in his hands and moved it a little towards the light. “The Minister for Magic himself commissioned it, for his office. It needs to be finished by next month.”

“He looks very much like the real one,” she assured him. “I’ve seen him a lot of times, with my dad, you know, and Merlin… You managed to get that frown and those dark eyes that seem to know perfectly well what you did when they look at you.” She grinned and added, “When I was five, my mum took me to see my dad at the Ministry, and we met him and I’m sure he knew that that morning I stole my brothers’ Chocolate Frogs and ate them in secret.”

Derek chuckled. “Did he say something?”

“Yeah, but that was after I lamented that I had a stomach-ache and puked chocolate all over my dad’s desk,” she giggled. “He was well nice with me. He even went to fetch me some water himself. But Mum and Dad were mortified.” She shook her head and only then noticed a face smiling and winking at her, the canvas had been leant against more canvases and it was standing where the portrait of the Minister used to be. “Hey!” exclaimed Lily as she got closer to the portrait. “That’s me!”

It was her all right. Winking, smiling, biting her bottom lip, fluttering her eyelashes, blushing. The portrait went down to her naked shoulders, and he had rendered her freckles with abundance of detail. She took another step towards the portrait to have a proper look at it, but Derek stepped in front of her, placing the Minister between her and the canvas.

“I… It was just… It’s not finished,” he stammered, blushing.

Lily looked up at him and smiled. “What? You charmed it already, of course it’s finished,” she said, trying to side step him.

He took a step too. “No, I… I don’t think I managed to really… really capture your essence,” he said, placing his hands in front of himself to stop her.

“Oh come on,” she insisted. “I’m sure it’s much better than you think.”

He shook his head. “No, listen, it’s really not that good.” He turned and tried to place the Minister in front of her portrait, but he was nervous and his hands were shaking a little and, instead of covering up her portrait, he knocked over the canvas.

Lily stared as the ones behind it followed like a reverse domino effect. Each and every single piece of parchment or canvas that fell behind it were about her too. Her face, her eating ice-cream at the Leaky Cauldron, her walking in the newsroom, her smiling, her tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

“I… I’m sorry…” he said frantically, now almost comically trying to push all those paintings and drawings back into a standing position and behind the massive canvas of Kingsley Shacklebolt. “I’m such a mess; I didn’t mean to… you were not supposed to… I’m sorry…”

Lily didn’t move. Every time he tried to push them back, they kept falling forward and closer to her. At some point, she just stretched her hand and grabbed a parchment where she was grinning and blushing. Her nose wrinkled up so cutely, and her eyes shone like stars.

“I think you’ve made me more beautiful than what I am,” she pointed out softly.

He grabbed the parchment from her hand. “I really don’t think so,” he said, turning a deep shade of crimson. “I think the original is much more beautiful and perfect, and these imitations just pale in comparison.” He finally managed to push them all back. “I… I was trying to capture your beauty, but every time I try and then I see you… I just notice how far from the real model I am.” He pushed Shacklebolt’s portrait back to its place, finally succeeding into putting it in front of the others and keeping them there.

He turned, but didn’t seem able to look at her, as if she had just discovered his secret stash of sex toys instead of a pile of portrait of herself.

She licked her lips. “Would it help if you had the model there as you painted?” she asked gently.

He raised his eyes and they were shining with anticipation. “Big time,” he breathed, sounding delighted.

“Then maybe I can pose for you,” she said, slowly shrugging a shoulder. “I mean, if you want to spend some more time on—”

“I’d love to,” he cut her off. “I’d… I’d love to paint you.”

She smiled. “Then I think we should make _that_ our next date.”

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _There’s this girl that I really, really like. She said she likes me back, and I was thrilled, but then, when we kissed, she said that I was a really lousy kisser and that she couldn’t possibly think of having a relationship with me._
> 
> _I really like her. No, I love her. I want her to stay with me._
> 
> _Can you give me some tips on how to kiss a girl properly? I seriously need to improve my technique._
> 
> _Thank you,_
> 
> _JJ_

***

For the first time since they had moved into the flat, Lily got up before Hugo.

She had heard him coming back at some ungodly hour, and she was sure he had even peeked into her room to check if she was there. He had cursed out loud at some point when he banged into something. She had heard the bathroom door opening, but then she had probably fallen asleep again before he went to bed. Either that or _he_ had fallen asleep in the bathroom.

He hadn’t, because that morning she could take a shower in all tranquillity. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the hot water falling down her face. She was still sore everywhere, her muscles were burning, and her arms and legs and even her stomach were covered in bruises.

She bravely tried not to think about her injuries, instead her mind travelled back to the night before. She had come home from Derek’s place relatively early, and he had been a perfect gentleman all the way through the night. He had even kissed her hand at the end, and insisted she used his Floo to get back home.

They hadn’t decided on a day for the next date – yes, Lily decided to switch from calling them ‘non-dates’ to ‘dates’ –, because of the gazillion birthday parties that she was supposed to attend, but they were going to see each other at work, virtually every day, and she would let him know when her evenings would clear out.

She turned off the water and dried herself, she donned the first thing she found that didn’t smell, and walked into the kitchen. It was Sunday, and that usually meant Hugo would cook breakfast. But, since he wasn’t there, she Summoned cereal and milk and poured them all together into a bowl. She grabbed that bowl and sat on the sofa, chewing noisily on the cereal and going through the letters again.

Minutes passed, she finished her cereal, stared in front of her for a while, went back to the letters and got herself more cereal and more milk. She wondered if she had to go and wake Hugo up, after all, they were expected at the Burrow for lunch; didn’t he need to take a shower too? He was probably smelly and sweaty from the evening before.

Her face darkened, and she considered letting him sleep so that he would miss lunch at the Burrow. Yes, she was _that_ angry with him for deciding to spend the night out. She sighed and shook her head. Even if he had come back home with her, she would have had to leave anyway, thus leaving him alone in the flat.

After all, it was probably for the best that he had gone out with his friends, at least he hadn’t been alone at home, and if he needed something because of his injured arm, they would surely help him.

She was also angry for what Marie and the girls had told her while they got ready for lunch, though. Why would he terrorise them just to make them apologise to her? What was wrong with him? Honestly, she had felt mortified to learn that he treated them like that. For her!

She waited a bit longer, finished her cereal again, learnt the letters by heart, and finally stood from the sofa and walked to his room. She stopped in front of it, wondering what to do. Should she knock? Should she barge in there? He usually did that with her, but who said that he didn’t knock first and she didn’t hear him?

She decided she was civilised enough to knock, and so she did. Softly, though, not wanting to startle him.

A mumble answered her knock.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside. The room was still mostly immersed into darkness, except for a pale ray of sun that filtered through the curtains. Hugo was lying on his stomach on the bed, the covers up to his shoulder blades, one arm under the pillow, one flat against his torso, as if it hurt him.

“What’s the time?” he mumbled when she stopped next to him.

“Almost eleven,” she told him. “Are you not feeling well?”

He tried to push himself up, but his arm gave out and he collapsed back down. “Damn it,” he growled, “it’s so late.”

“Are you okay?” she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He hissed in pain. “I’m brilliant,” he muttered. “Can’t you see?”

Her hand slid away from his shoulder and she straightened her back up. “You don’t look like you’re brilliant at all,” she stated coldly. “Is it your arm? Did they not Heal you properly yesterday?”

He sunk his face into the pillow. “Yeah, they did,” he groaned. “I just… I should have rested a bit afterwards.”

“And you didn’t?” she asked icily, feeling the taste of the words “I told you so” so sweet in her mouth.

“No, I didn’t,” he bit out. “Happy?”

She wanted to tell him that yes, she was happy, and that that was what he deserved for not listening to her. Instead, she decided to be the bigger person there. “No, I’m not happy,” she said calmly. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better.”

The words didn’t have the same satisfying flavour of the more malicious ones, but his sincerely sorrowful face made her internally rejoice enough.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to be so callous.” He pushed himself up with his other arm and turned over. There was a nasty bruise over his shoulder that she hadn’t noticed before. “Did you have a nice evening?”

She nodded. “Did you?”

He shrugged his healthy shoulder. “It would have been better if you had been there,” he admitted quietly, fidgeting with his sheets.

She smiled at that. “Oh come on,” she said. “I’m sure you had fun.”

He shook his head. “McLaggen and Marie got into a fight,” he explained. “He kept saying that she had sent that Bludger towards you on purpose, but she kept denying it. Then, while we were leaving the pub, she hexed him and he wanted to hex her back. I had to mediate between the two.” He looked at her and smiled, patting the tiny space on the bed next to his hip.

She accepted the invitation and sat down.

He furrowed his brow when he saw her arms, and he raised his hand to run his fingers on her bruises. “You look like a Dalmatian,” he said. “Do they hurt?”

“Only if you—Hugo!” She moved her arm away, covering the spot where he had pushed his thumb against her skin.

He grinned. “Grandma is going to get a heart attack if she sees you like that,” he reminded her.

“What about you?” she bit out. “You’re pale and your shoulder looks like is in indescribable pain.” She cocked her head. “Probably we shouldn’t go to the Burrow today; you know… We should stay here and rest.”

Hugo pouted like a child. “It is in indescribable pain,” he admitted. “If we stay here, are you going to take care of me?”

She raised her eyes to look at him and smiled. Somehow, it felt wonderful to be asked something like that by Hugo. “If you want me to,” she said.

He stretched a hand towards her, just like Derek had done the night before, and she took it. He pulled her to him, until she was lying half on top of him, and pushed his nose into her hair. “Hmm,” he murmured, “I want you to.” He kissed her head. “I might need a massage, though.”

She closed her eyes and hugged his torso. “I can give you one,” she said, “but I don’t want to make your shoulder worse. You have to tell me what to do.”

He leant his head against hers. “I will, thank you, Lils,” he whispered before taking a deep breath and pressing himself more insistently against her.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep,” she whispered back. “I can’t move and I need to get you some breakfast and Floo Call Grandma.” She elbowed him lightly. “Hugo. Hugo, wake up.”

But he just hugged her more tightly and she curled up next to him, resigned to stay there a little bit longer.

***

“I can get out of bed, you know,” chuckled Hugo. “There’s no reason why you should bring me breakfast in bed.”

She tilted her head, stopping on the door. “You just don’t trust my culinary skills,” she replied lightly, “but I made you,” she walked towards the bed, with the tray in her hands, “some delicious,” she placed the tray in front of him, “cereal with milk, a cup of tea and some orange juice fresh from the carton.”

He nodded and seemed to try hard to keep from laughing as he leant back against the pillows. “It looks delicious,” he agreed. “Thank you, Healer Potter.”

She grinned and sat next to him. “If you call me that I’ll feel entitled to boss you around all day.”

“Duly noted,” he replied, stuffing some cereal into his mouth. “What did Grandma say?”

She shrugged a shoulder and rolled her eyes. “The usual, she wanted to call the Healers, the Aurors, the Unspeakables… I told her you were going to be perfectly fine, just needed a bit of rest, but she caught a glimpse of my arms and she really almost had a heart attack.” She smiled. “She said she was coming over with some chicken soup, but I managed to make her desist. I’m sure somebody will show up at some point, though.”

Hugo nodded as he kept eating his cereal and sipping his tea. “We can pretend we’re sleeping,” he said. “They’ll leave food and leave us alone.”

She grinned. “I like how you think.” She stood up and circled the bed sitting on the other side and staring intently at his shoulder. “It looks bad,” she stated. “Why is it so black and bruised if they Healed you?”

He didn’t reply, and when she looked up at his face she saw that he was smiling. “What?” she asked defensibly.

He shook his head. “You sound so worried,” he replied. “It’s cute.”

She rolled her eyes and blushed. “I am worried. Just answer my question.”

He sighed. “They Healed my broken arm,” he explained. “I also dislocated my shoulder, but didn’t notice until later last night.”

She furrowed her brow in disbelief. “How can you dislocate a shoulder and not notice?”

“I was preoccupied with something else,” he replied, “and the broken arm hurt like hell, so I really couldn’t feel the pain in the shoulder. And it wasn’t exactly dislocated, it was on the verge of being dislocated. Out of the pub, McLaggen gave me a shove and it popped right back in.” He smiled. “And that’s when I noticed that it was almost out.”

Lily shook her head. “What should I do to make you feel better?” She brushed her fingers over the bruise. “I’m scared to hurt you.”

“Maybe you can really give me a massage later today?” he asked softly. “I’ll tell you where to press and what movements to make. I promise you won’t hurt me.”

She looked at him. “Alright,” she agreed. “But if I hurt you, you tell me, okay?”

He nodded as he finished his cereal. “Solemnly swear.”

***

They spent most of the morning playing Exploding Snap on Hugo’s bed, looking perfectly happy with that arrangement even though Lily felt an uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach. It was as if both of them were trying to avoid talking about the night before. About both Lily’s night and Hugo’s. She didn’t want to ask what had happened with Marie once she had left, and she didn’t want him to ask her about her evening with Derek.

She felt as if only quarrels and unwanted drama would come out of that conversation.

It was inevitable though, because the longer they were sitting there, the heavier the unspoken events weighted on Lily’s shoulders – and she imagined on Hugo’s as well.

She managed to side step his first question though.

“So,” he had started with a deep breath, “last night went—”

“What do you want for lunch?” she asked suddenly, cutting him off as if she hadn’t heard him at all. “I can try to make some pasta if you don’t want a too fancy sauce on top.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Does that mean ketchup?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.

“No,” she replied, “tuna and sweetcorn and mayonnaise… and a bit of cheddar on top.”

“Hmm, fancy,” he chuckled.

“I swear it’s good,” she said, placing a hand on her heart. “I’ve made it before and it was a success.”

“Who did you make it for?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Me.”

He smiled at her. “Oh. Well then, I’m honoured to be the first to try your secret recipe,” he said.

She placed her cards on top of Hugo’s sheets and stood up. “Yeah, secret recipe,” she said as she walked to the door. “More like I-was-home-alone-and-covered-the-pasta-with-what-I-found-in-the-cupboard kind of recipe…”

“Do you need help?” He pushed the sheets back, but she raised a hand to stop him.

“Stay right there,” she said. “You’re my patient.”

He stood nonetheless and followed her in the corridor. “I’ll use the bathroom, then. And I’m looking forward to trying your pasta.” He winked at her as he closed the door at his back and she continued towards the kitchen.

She tried the pasta so many times that her main fear – that she would overcook it – soon left room to her second fear – that she would eat it all before it was even ready. Luckily, she had never been good with proportions and there was more pasta than the two of them might have ever even tried to finish in a whole weekend.

She emptied half a jar of mayonnaise, two cans of sweetcorn and three of tuna, mixed them vigorously with the pasta, and dished two gigantic plates. She also grated some cheddar on top and placed them in the oven for a few minutes to make the cheese melt on top.

Then placed them on a tray and smiled satisfied at the results. She grabbed cutlery, napkins, glasses filled with pumpkin juice, and the letters and made her way back to Hugo’s room.

“I hope you’re going to like it,” she said as she walked in there. “And there’s more if you want later.”

He straightened his back and leant back against the pillow-covered headboard. “I’m sure it’s delicious,” he said, “and I’m starving.”

She placed the tray in his lap and grabbed a plate, sitting on her folded legs at the foot of the bed. “Me too.”

“Are you going to be comfortable like that?” he asked, grabbing the other plate. “We can move to the kitchen.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” she replied. “Dig in, now. I want to know what you think about it.”

He smiled and brought a generous forkful to his mouth. He chewed silently, lowering his eyes as if to focus on the taste of the dish. Lily held her breath as he swallowed and licked his lips, and finally looked back up at her.

“So?” she asked, biting her bottom lip.

A smile lit up his face. “I love it!” he exclaimed. “It’s scrumptious, Lily, honestly. What a great recipe!”

She let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding and finally started eating too. Yes, of course it was no lamb and mushrooms with roasted potatoes, but it was good nonetheless. Tasty, thanks to the mayonnaise, and interesting thanks to the melted cheddar on top. And to think that she had really just randomly thrown the ingredients into the pot the first time she had tried it.

“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, chewing noisily. “I’m in love with this recipe too. I’m such a great cook, and I didn’t even notice before.”

He chuckled. “You are,” he agreed. “Next time you make this, you’ll show me, alright?”

She grinned. “Even if it’s completely unhealthy and utterly fattening?”

“Yeah,” he replied, “we don’t need to eat it every day, but I want to learn how to make it.”

There wasn’t much to learn, really, but Lily didn’t say that. He was sweet enough to find her recipe interesting, so she would definitely teach it to him if he wanted.

“You’ve got letters?” he asked suddenly, nodding towards the parchments.

“Yeah,” she replied, lowering her eyes on the four envelopes. “I read them already, and there’s one that I thought it was right for you.” She picked the one on top and drew out the letter. “It’s from a guy who needs advice on how to kiss a girl properly,” she said. “It sounds perfect for you.”

He placed the half-finished plate back on the tray and furrowed his brow as he took the letter that she offered him and read it. “Why?” he asked, looking up at her. “How do you know I’m not a lousy kisser as well?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you’re not,” she replied, handing him a quill. “I’m sure you’re every girl’s dream kiss.”

He placed the quill on the tray and folded his arms across his chest. “How do you know?” he asked again.

She didn’t know how she knew, but she was sure that he was a wonderful kisser. She felt something in her stomach as she thought about it. She was sure that, if he kissed her, she would find him the best kiss she’d ever received. And she wouldn’t be able to think about anything or anybody else. For days. Weeks probably.

She was sure that afterwards she would want to kiss only him. _Forever_.

Lily sunk her teeth in her bottom lip. Merlin! But he surely didn’t want to kiss her! Maybe just to help her with the letters. Maybe just for that. But not because he felt butterflies in his stomach, like the ones which were stirring their wings in Lily’s lower abdomen.

God! What was she thinking? Why was she thinking those things? Why would those butterflies not stay still?

Suddenly, images of him kissing her flashed before her eyes. He was tender and sweet and passionate. His lips were soft and warm and he tasted of the pasta they had just had. Lily’s knees felt weak all of a sudden, and those butterflies took off all together.

Then Hugo tilted his head back, and next thing she knew he was confessing his love for Marie. In her head, she could hear her heart breaking into pieces so small that it would take her decades to put them back together.

“Well?” he asked, snapping her out of her rather complicated thoughts.

She blinked and looked up at him. “What?” she asked back. What were they saying?

“How do you know that I’m a good kisser?” he repeated, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“I heard one of your ex-girlfriends talking about you,” she lied through her teeth. “She said you were the best kiss she’d ever received.”

He blushed at that, but smiled visibly pleased. “Who said that?”

She waved a hand in front of him. “Agnes,” she replied, “I think, or Melissa. I don’t remember.”

He snorted. “Well, I only had two girlfriends,” he reminded her.

It was true, and she marvelled why, since he was so handsome sometimes Lily wondered how all the girls weren’t throwing themselves at him. “So it was either one or the other,” she replied curtly. “Are you going to write something to that poor young man who needs kissing lessons?

He pushed the letter and the quill towards her on the tray. “I thought you didn’t want me to write your letters.”

“But I don’t know what guys do to kiss a girl!”

“Well, you’ve kissed some guys,” he replied calmly. “What did they do?”

She lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling uneasy to tell him about her boring and less than mind-blowing and heart-stopping experiences.

“You did kiss some guys, didn’t you?” he murmured when she didn’t reply.

“Of course I did,” she bit out. “But I was too preoccupied with what I was doing to notice what they were doing.”

“Why?” he asked softly. “I’m sure you’re a great kisser too.”

She didn’t reply, but she felt her cheeks go up in flames at the compliment.

“Do you want—”

“I want you to reply to the letter for me,” she cut him off before he could ask anything that she didn’t have the strength to refuse. “Please?” she added in a whisper. She smiled to break the tension that she could feel between the two of them. “I’ll give you that massage after lunch.”

He took a deep breath and she could see his hands closing over the letter and the quill. “Of course, Lily,” he replied just as softly. “I’m sorry. I was being immature.”

“No, you weren’t,” she replied. “Thank you,” she added as he scribbled down his reply.

He smiled back at her, but didn’t look up and when he finished he just pushed the letter and the reply over to her and kept eating his now lukewarm pasta.

***

> _Dear JJ,_
> 
> _First and foremost, if a girl uses the excuse that her partner is a lousy kisser to get herself out of a relationship, probably there’s something else underneath. Don’t take this the wrong way, but probably she doesn’t love you the way she claims she does. Probably, she was just looking for an easy way out and used the first excuse she could find._
> 
> _Second, if you need some quick tips on how to improve your kissing technique – which, as far as I know, might already be absolutely perfect – don’t you worry! I’ll do my best to give you a few pointers that will make the kiss as romantic and as breath-taking as needed._
> 
> _First, it’s important that you try to get the girl alone. If you’re with friends, hold her back a little, ask her if she’d like to walk with you, ask her if you can walk her home. Find a place that she’ll consider romantic, a beach at sunset, a softly-lit living room, a bench under a sky quilted with stars. Start a conversation and talk to her about… her. A girl loves to be the centre of your attention. Ask her about her interests, about what she likes, what she loves; don’t start talking about other girls or your ex-girlfriends. Don’t start complaining about your problems._
> 
> _Pay her a compliment. An amazing compliment, something that you really like about her. Don’t focus on her physique, focus on something unique that you love about her and be as genuine as you can. Talk about her smile, her laugh, her eyes. Tell her that you’ve loved her since the first moment you saw her._
> 
> _Be natural. Get a bit closer to her, test the waters for a kiss, try with a few small touches at first, hold her hand, wrap an arm around her shoulders, hug her out of the blue – but without scaring her. Kiss her on her cheeks and on her hair at first, gently and spontaneously._
> 
> _When you think you’re ready to properly kiss her, make eye contact with her, and lean in closer, pausing for a second before you place your lips on hers. Don’t start with tongue straight away, give her a few pecks, show her that you can be gentle, that you’re not in a hurry. Don’t smack your lips and when you’re ready, focus on her bottom lip. Don’t leave your hands limply at your side, but place them either on her waist, her shoulders, on the back of her head or cup her cheeks and her jaw._
> 
> _Only when both of you are ready, you can try – but it’s completely optional – to run the tip of your tongue on her lips. If she wants, she’ll get the signal and will know what to do. Don’t force her, though. Never. Take a breath afterwards, and don’t end the kiss abruptly. End it gently if you’re the one ending it at all, otherwise let her decide when it’s time to stop._
> 
> _There, dear JJ, I hope this helps. If she complains again, she’s probably not the girl for you anyway._
> 
> _Take care,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

Lily brought Hugo’s reply to her lips and closed her eyes. It was perfect, as always, but that was not the only reason why she felt her heart beating furiously in her chest.

She wanted that. She wanted that kiss that he described and she wanted it from him. Why? Why did she feel like that? It was silly and she definitely shouldn’t feel like that for Hugo.

She raised her eyes and looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She looked worried. Well, she felt worried.

She shouldn’t feel like that, and it wasn’t because Hugo was family, her flatmate or her best-friend, and they had the best relationship in the world without her needing to complicate things between them. It was because she was sure that whatever she felt – and she definitely wasn’t going to open _that_ can of worms – he didn’t feel it for her. No, it was crystal clear that he didn’t. Not when he chose to go out with Marie rather than coming back home with Lily.

She lowered her head again, kissed the letter as gently as he had told JJ to do, and her heart fluttered in her chest.

She sighed.

Merlin, how stupid she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffy, guys! The massage is coming in the next chapter. Looking forward to posting it! :D 
> 
> Lily's pasta is a dish I was taught when I was in England as an exchange student. It is yummy, despite what you might think, and you should definitely try it! *g* Have a lovely weekend! x


	14. Chapter 14

***

“Ready for the massage?” asked Lily as she walked back into Hugo’s room. “I think you have to turn around, though.”

He smiled and nodded. “There’s a salve in my second drawer,” he told her. “It’s in a green and red little vase.”

She walked to his chest of drawers, opening the second one. Everything was perfectly stacked in there. Heavy socks folded neatly, right next to spare Quidditch pieces of equipment, next to a bunch of creams and lotions tidily placed in a box.

“The _St Mungo’s Hundred Healing Herbs_?” she asked, grabbing the little vase to show it to him.

“That one,” he said. “It’s strong, it smells strong too, but it’s not unpleasant.”

She unscrewed the top and a very strong smell of herbs reached her nose. She could recognise rosemary, sage, and chives, but then there were many others that she probably didn’t even know what they were called. There were some flowers too, and it definitely wasn’t unpleasant.

“You’ve used it quite a bit,” she noticed as she walked to the bed.

“I’ve hurt quite a bit too,” he replied, winking. He pushed back the sheets and she helped him turning around with a hand carefully placed on his waist.

He turned his head towards the offended shoulder and leant it against the pillow, looking up at her as she sat down next to him. She scooped up some cream on her fingers and placed the vase on the bedside table.

“Okay, guide me,” she said, staring at his shoulder and the tensed muscles around it.

He chuckled. “You should climb on.”

She glanced from his shoulder to his amused face. “Climb on where?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Me?”

She opened her eyes wide. “What? Climb on you? Are you out of your mind? You’re hurt!”

“Well, not climb on my shoulders,” he pointed out. “You can sit on my lower back or my butt.”

Before she could protest again, he added, “That’s what the Puddlemere masseuses always do, you know. It gives them a wider and more precise range of movements.”

Lily bit her bottom lip as she turned to look at the small of his back and his round butt. “I’m going to hurt you with my weight.”

He snorted. “Please. Climb on.”

She let out a sigh and stood up again before climbing on the bed. She placed each foot at his side, near his waist and a hand on is back as she sat on his butt. Then moved her feet back, until she was half-sitting and half-kneeling.

“Have you climbed on yet?”

She slapped his side playfully. “Stop joking,” she said, “and if you get a backache tomorrow and can’t fly, I’ll be happy to say _I told you so_ for a whole week.”

He chuckled again, but didn’t reply.

“Guide me, tell me what to do,” she said.

He nodded. “Place both hands on my shoulder, gently at first. Yes, like that,” he sighed as she pressed lightly on the bruise. “Now move your thumbs over my back and press against my shoulder blade. Not too forcefully.”

“Like this?” she asked in a whisper as she pressed on his skin.

“Hmm,” he murmured just as quietly.

It was somehow an unspoken rule that massages needed a quiet environment, and even though Lily had never either given one and received only a couple of facial massages when she went to Victoire’s bachelorette party; she just felt compelled to keep her voice low and her movements languid.

He closed his eyes and a soft smile tugged at his lips. Evidently, she was doing it right.

“Now move your other fingers, as if you were kneading some dough,” he whispered, “but more gently, follow the lines of the bones and dig softly into the muscles.”

She did as she was told, kneading gently.

“Ouch,” he groaned at some point.

She raised her hands with a start. “Did I hurt you?” she asked alarmed.

“Yeah, but it was a good hurt,” he murmured.

“How can there be a good hurt?”

“You need to loosen up the muscles a little,” he explained. He stretched his good arm back, until his fingers brushed against her knee and he rubbed his fingers over her skin. “Don’t worry; I need to hurt a little in order to get better.” When she didn’t move, he curled his digits around her knee and smiled. “Keep going.”

She leant in the touch of his hand and went back to focus on his shoulder, following each and every direction he gave her. A little more pressure here, a softer circle of her fingers there, a small pull near his arm.

“Hmm,” he groaned, “you’re good. If they don’t hire you as Quidditch correspondent you can become a masseuse.” He licked his lips and smiled. “I’ll get you hired at Puddlemere United.”

She giggled at that. “Will I be able to massage all those handsome players?”

“No, just me,” he tutted in disapproval. “You’re going to be my private masseuse. Will make sure to strain a muscle every day.”

“Then you’ll have to give my arms a massage,” she snorted.

He chuckled and turned his head to the other side, finding a more comfortable position. “Will do,” he replied quietly.

Keeping the movements going, she looked at his content face. He was so tanned, his freckles were almost the same colour of the rest of his skin now. And when he opened his eyes, they seemed like they were made of ice in contrast with his complexion. She smiled and let her eyes caress his features, from his cheeks down to his jaw and to his neck.

And there she stopped. And she even stopped kneading. And she stopped breathing for a moment, too. Or it was longer than a moment.

“You stopped,” he murmured after a while. “Are you tired?” His fingers caressed her knee more insistently, his thumb rubbing gently over her skin.

She resumed her movements, but didn’t reply. Then one of her hands let go of his shoulder and moved lightly to his neck, brushing against the circular bruise there. Only it wasn’t a bruise, of that she was sure.

“Does it hurt here?” she asked softly, rubbing the hickey.

“No,” he sighed, “it’s very pleasant.”

“I bet it is,” she replied quietly but coldly. She squeezed his shoulder a bit more strongly and he tensed and let out a little shout.

“Hey!” he grunted.

She let him go and sat back on his butt, feeling bitter and somehow hurt. “I’m sorry,” she replied coldly. “I think I am getting tired. And probably you should rest, too. I’ll let you sleep.” She stood and climbed down from the bed.

“What?” He twisted on the bed and then grimaced at the pain. “Why? Lily, wait!”

She breathed overdramatically, and half-turned to glance at him askew. She wanted to tell him to call Marie and ask her to massage his shoulder, that if she could kiss him, than she could do that, too. But before she could give vent to her feelings, there was the swish of the Floo and then Aunt Hermione called for them.

“In here,” replied Lily as Hugo lay down on his back and looked at her with discomfort and confusion. If he didn’t know what he had done, she wouldn’t be the one to tell him.

Aunt Hermione, followed by her mother and Grandma Molly, made their way to Hugo’s bedroom. In the corridor, they all hugged Lily and gasped at her bruises before offering to Heal her arms.

“Oh my word!” exclaimed Auntie Hermione as she finally walked into the room. “You’re bed-ridden! I didn’t realise how seriously hurt you were!”

Hugo blushed as his mother hurried to his bedside. “I’m not bed-ridden,” he said. “Lily insisted that I stayed in bed.” He smiled at her. “She took care of me and cooked for me and even gave me a massage.”

There was swooning coming from the three women, but Lily didn’t smile. “I know, I’m such a good person,” she said coldly. “Well, I’ll let you take care of him now.” She turned on her heels and walked out of the room, feeling everybody’s eyes on her as she stubbornly stalked away.

***

“Hugo has spent the last twenty minutes praising you.”

Lily didn’t raise her head from the pillow when her mother walked into her room without knocking, as if she was still a child. She refrained from telling her off though.

“Auntie Hermione kept asking him if he’d aggravated you somehow,” she added, as she sat on Lily’s bed and looked down at her with a smile. “He said he didn’t know, but he didn’t think so.”

Lily pouted slightly. “He didn’t,” she murmured.

Her mother placed a warm hand on her shoulder and rubbed her gently. “Then is there a reason why you’re pouting here in your room like you used to do when Al and James excluded you from their games?”

She looked up at her and shook her head disconsolately. “Not a valid one.”

Her mother tucked some hair behind Lily’s ear. “Grandma brought you two some leftovers from lunch,” she said. “We had roast beef and potatoes.”

She smiled and pushed herself up until she was sitting and leaning back against the headboard. “I made pasta,” she murmured with a smile. “Hugo said it was good.”

“He said it was delicious,” said her mother with a grin.

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, it was.”

Her mother leant forward until she was hugging Lily tightly to her chest; then let her go and looked around herself, finally noticing the mess. “Still been very, very busy?” She sounded amused, probably it was the fact that she didn’t have to clean after her and that was not her house.

Lily giggled. “I’m waiting for Hugo to tidy my room. Have you seen his?”

She nodded. “The first thing Auntie Hermione said was that drawers need to be closed otherwise dust will go inside and then you have to clean them too.”

Lily blushed slightly. “I left it open,” she admitted. “Don’t let her or Grandma come in here.”

“I won’t, but maybe you can come to them.” She tilted her head back and drew out her wand. “And I can Heal your arms first, otherwise Grandma will start crying if she sees your bruises again.”

Lily let her Heal her, and afterwards she let her mother guide her back into Hugo’s room. She avoided his eyes for a while, until he joked about his lower back being in pain because of Lily’s weight, and so she punched his healthy arm jokingly. Then both of them laughed and so did their mothers and their grandmother.

Then everything seemed to be back to normal and Lily pushed the thought of the hickey at the back of her mind for the time being.

***

Derek was waiting for her on Monday morning. He was standing right in front of Lavender’s office and she smiled when she saw him.

He smiled back. “Did you have a nice Sunday?” he asked her warmly.

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but stopped herself before she could start a detailed narration of the events of the previous day. She imagined Derek wouldn’t have appreciated if she mentioned Hugo another ten times in front of him. “It was alright,” she replied nonchalantly. “Yours?”

“Not bad,” he said. “I went to see my parents and then worked on the portrait of the Ministry for a bit.”

“I can’t wait to see it finished,” she said. “Will I be able to see it finished or am I not supposed to?”

He smiled at her. “You’ll be able to see it finished,” he whispered. “It’ll be our little secret.”

She giggled at that.

“Did you tell your cousin about the lamb?” he asked suddenly. “Has he tried to make it yet?”

She shook her head. Oh well, if _he_ was the one who brought up Hugo, then… “He was kind of sick yesterday,” she admitted. “Well, not sick, he had some problem with his shoulder, it kind of almost-but-not-exactly popped out, and it was pushed back rather roughly. I had to nurse him back to health.” She nodded and sighed overdramatically. “Yes, I’m still waiting for people to dedicate a ward at St Mungo’s to me, in honour of my heroic gestures.”

“I’m sure that’ll happen soon enough,” he assured her with a grin. “Have you managed to talk to your family about the various parties that are coming up?”

She hunched her shoulders a bit. “No, we didn’t go to the Burrow,” she admitted. “Hugo wasn’t in the right shape and I just felt bad at abandoning him behind.” She smiled. “But I’ll talk to Rosie today and will talk to my mum on my way out.”

He smiled back and his eyes shone. “Then we’ll talk tomorrow,” he said. “Or you can Floo Call me tonight if you want.”

She bit her bottom lip. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” she said.

He nodded a bit stiffly, probably disappointed that she wouldn’t want to Floo Call him at home. “Of course,” he replied softly.

She smiled and nodded before stepping towards Lavender’s office.

“Oh, by the way,” he added as an afterthought. “My dad wants to see you.” He raised a hand when her eyes widened. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s something good this time.”

***

Lily found ten letters that morning. She was a bit intimidated and weirdly pleased. Still, she didn’t know if it was because of her – and Hugo’s – skilfulness at helping people, or if it was still absolutely normal that the deeper into the summer holidays they went, the more letter she would receive.

She was going to discover that soon, though.

***

“Sit down, Potter,” said Mr Quills cheerfully when she walked into his office. “Do you want a cup of tea? A coffee?”

She walked towards the armchair that he was gesturing to, and furrowed her brow a little as she looked at him. “No, thank you,” she replied politely.

“Good,” he said distractedly. “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”

She nodded quickly in reply.

“Mike told me that you’re inundating him with letters,” he said, leaning back against his chair, “and Doug, our postman, says that you got ten letters this morning.”

“That’s correct.”

“Well, last time Fruit Tart got more than two letters—no, I don’t think she’s ever gotten more than two letters,” he muttered. “I’ve always told my wife that it was because nobody freaking cared about those suggestions, but she said that it was Brown who wasn’t really as brilliant as she claimed to be.” He smiled at Lily. “Of course, it stings a bit that my wife was right and I was wrong, but we had an increase in the sale of the newspaper during week days, so I’m not going to complain.”

Lily felt her chest swell with pride. “An increase in the sales?”

“Yes, well, in the order of 0.05 percent, but it’s still quite a number,” he said, “and if they buy it to read that flimsy column, I’m not going to complain either.”

Lily smiled so brightly her cheeks hurt. “Wicked!” she exclaimed. “So you called me in here to give me a raise?”

He half-snorted and half-chuckled in reply. “A raise, yes,” he deadpanned, “to reply to teenagers with acne. No, no, nothing of the sort. I called you in here to tell you that we’ve decided to keep the column going all week, even in the weekends.”

Her smile turned downwards, until she was probably looking dejected. “So… I have to work in the weekends too?”

He raised a hand in front of him, just like Derek had done, to quiet her fears. “You just need to have enough letters to cover the weekend too,” he said. “I’m sure it won’t be a problem, considering how many you’re getting at the moment. Mike said we’re already covered until Thursday.”

She nodded, comforted that she didn’t have to sacrifice her weekends for her job. “Alright,” she said, “so I just keep doing what I was doing before, and that’s all?”

“Exactly,” he said cheerfully. “Keep up the great job, Potter. You’re just like your mother.” He gestured vaguely towards the door. “Now, off you go,” he said, “and if you see my son, tell him to stop staring at you and go back to work.”

***

“Mr Quills told me that I am just like you,” said Lily as she sat on her mother’s desk and let her legs dangle in front of her.

“Which is a good thing, I hope,” she grinned, pushing herself back to look at her daughter.

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “I think so; he just told me that he wants Ask Lavender to be printed in the weekends as well, since I’m getting tons of letters.” She grinned, waiting for her mother’s reaction at that piece of news.

It didn’t come late. “Oh Lily, but that’s great!” she exclaimed, exuding pride from every pore of her body. “Such good news! I knew you were cut out for this job! Oh Merlin, I wish he would change the name on the column now…” She raised her arms up in the air, as if to frame a giant title. “Ask Lily. How does it sound?”

“It gives me the chills,” she replied, furrowing her brow. “Can you imagine my darling brothers if they were to know?”

Her mother cocked her head and smiled. “I’m sure your darling cousin would protect you,” she said gently.

Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled too. She imagined that he’d do that.

“I didn’t even ask you how was your date,” her mother said. “Non-date, sorry.”

“Date is fine,” she murmured. “It was good, Derek cooked some scrumptious things, and he kept the conversation going, and… he showed me his paintings.” She bit her bottom lip. “He wants to paint me… well, he’s already painted me a few times, apparently, but he didn’t want me to see them and said he’d like to paint me from real…” She smiled softly, remembering her night.

“A man who can cook, can converse and focuses his attention on you,” she said. “Sounds like a keeper.”

“Hey, Hugo does that too,” she said quickly and without thinking. She blushed furiously afterwards, chewing on her bottom lip and lowering her eyes. Why did she have to say that?

Her mother cocked her head. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I’m sure that any girl would be lucky to have him.”

She nodded softly, needing more than anything to change the subject. “So, Mum… Dad’s birthday is in less than two weeks…” she started, “and we were wondering what you’ve organised. Any surprise party? Any not-so-surprise party?”

Her mother looked at her for a long moment and Lily was afraid that she would go back to talk about Hugo. She didn’t. “Yes, it’s next Friday,” she said. “And Grandma wanted to organise a big party at the Burrow with friends and family and even acquaintances.”

“Yay,” she deadpanned.

“But,” her mother went on, “that’s not what’s going to happen.” She smiled almost mischievously and opened a drawer near Lily’s leg, fishing out an envelope. She handed it to Lily.

“Did you write Lavender a letter?” she chuckled.

Her mother didn’t reply, and Lily opened the envelope, dying of curiosity now. Inside there were tickets – lots of them – for… things. There were two tickets for the Teatro La Scala in Milan, two for a guided tour of the ruins of Pompeii, two for a boat trip on Lake Como, and many more. Always just two, though.

“So,” she said, “either in Italy children under twenty-one get in for free, or…”

“Yeah.”

Lily jumped down from the desk. “You and dad are going to Italy? For how long? And you’re going alone? I’ve never been!”

“It’s supposed to be a romantic holiday,” she giggled, “and you have a job.”

Lily pouted. “Don’t come back with another child,” she said. “I can’t take another little James or little Albus.”

“What if it’s a little Lily?”

“Mum!”

She laughed. “I’m joking,” she said. “We have no intention of having another child, and I’m way too old for another pregnancy. Anyway, we’re leaving on the first of August, so there’s still time for a little, quiet party at Grimmauld Place.”

“Does Dad know?”

“About the trip to Italy? Nope, it’s a surprise.”

Lily grinned. “He’s going to love it, Mum,” she exclaimed. “But if he doesn’t know how is he going to do with his job?”

“I’ve already talked to Shacklebolt,” she replied, winking. “He’s the only other person, apart from Grandma and you, to know about it, so mum’s the word!”

“Can I tell Hugo?”

Her mother sighed. “Oh Merlin, are you two living in symbioses?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “No, but we’ll go and buy presents together,” she said, “I want to tell him why I think getting my father a gladiator armour is a good idea.”

Her mother wrinkled her nose at the notion. “Lily, don’t…”

Lily grinned and kissed her cheek, walking towards the door. “It’s going to be the best present he’s ever received, Mum!”

“Lily…”

“Later, Mum!” She could hear her mother’s exasperated and amused sigh from the other side of the door, and she giggled as she made her way towards the entrance.

***

When Hugo came home that evening, Lily was already working on the letters. Ten letters were not an easy task, and even if she was covered until Thursday, she didn’t want to slack. If she got ten new letters every day from now on, she had to work hard to keep up with them.

Hugo looked surprised to find her kneeling next to the coffee table, hard at work, but she told him what Mr Quills had told her and he smiled and double high fived her, making her smile with his enthusiasm.

“How’s your shoulder?” she asked as he collapsed on the sofa and Summoned an apple from the kitchen counter.

“Much better,” he replied. “Thanks to your massage, I’m sure.”

She shook her head and looked back down at the letters. “I bet they Healed you properly before trainings,” she replied lightly.

“They did, but your massage helped too.”

She didn’t reply, and he pressed his leg against her side, pushing her until she had to grab the coffee table not to fall flat on the floor. “Stop it,” she said, grinning. “You’re smelly and sweaty.”

“You mean I smell interesting and I’m sparkling, maybe.”

She grabbed a letter from the coffee table and turned to look at him, grabbing his knee she stood up and folded her legs under her as she plopped next to him on the sofa. “We’ve got post.”

He furrowed his brow as he took the envelope that she was handing him. “I thought Lavender gets post, and then you take it here and we reply to it.”

She shook her head. “This arrived for us with a little owl that almost crashed into the kitchen window.”

His eyes lit up in amusement as he recognised the animal from her description. “Us?” he asked. “Why is my sister writing to us?”

She nodded towards the envelope and he finally opened it. Rose’s birthday party invitation was pretty and tasteful, written in sinuous golden letters and with a single rose at the bottom right of the paper that blossomed every time the invitation was opened.

Hugo skimmed through it. “This Saturday at eight at her flat,” he said. “Okay, sounds good to me.”

Lily tapped her finger to the small writing near the rose. “It says we can bring someone,” she murmured. “See? There’s a plus one.”

Hugo closed the invitation. “Does that mean that we can bring one person in two? Since she addressed it to both of us.”

“Ha ha,” she deadpanned before glancing at him. “Are you going to bring somebody?” She had thought about Derek, but somehow that hadn’t seemed a great idea.

“Yes,” he said so categorically that she felt her heart skipping a beat. Maybe she could invite Derek after all…

Suddenly, Hugo turned towards her. “Will you come to the party with me?” he asked very solemnly.

She rolled her eyes. “You prat,” she said, but felt her heart suddenly very light. “Is that a no?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I can’t think of anybody.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, fighting the desire to smile. “Okay,” she answered as calmly as possible. “Me neither,” she added gently. “We’re also invited to a surprise party on the thirty-first of July at Grimmauld Place, for my dad’s birthday.” She grinned. “And we need to buy him a gladiator armour.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Does he want that?”

“No,” she replied, “but my mum’s awesome present to him is a week in Italy, and we need to buy him a gladiator armour; it’s absolutely essential.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t want to be disinherited.”

“Shut up,” she said lightly. “It’s a great idea.” She sat back on her heels and grabbed a piece of parchment. “Now, we need to find a day to go and get presents. One for my dad, one for Rose and one for Remus, naturally.”

“Naturally,” he echoed her. “Will we buy them together?”

“Yes,” she replied quietly. “Unless you don’t want to.”

“Of course I do,” he hurried to say. “I’m still a poor, unpaid Quidditch player wannabe.”

She looked at him. She hadn’t thought about that. “You can pay me back in September, when you’re officially playing for the Reserve Team.”

“Don’t be silly,” he replied. “I have money, I’m not that poor.” He stood from the sofa. “I’m off to take a shower. Then I’d say dinner is in order—any preferences?”

“Grandma’s leftovers?” she asked back.

“I like the sound of that,” he replied, tossing the apple core into the rubbish bin. “Need help with the letters?”

“What do you think?”

He chuckled as he walked into the corridor. “I think you’d be lost without me.”

She waited for him to close the door of the bathroom at his back. “I think that too, Hugo,” she whispered to herself.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I’m in love with a girl, and she’s in love with me – don’t ask me how I know it, I just do. But she’s off limit, like seriously off limit._
> 
> _Nothing weird like a sister or a teacher._
> 
> _She’s just my brother’s girlfriend._
> 
> _But we do love each other._
> 
> _What do we do?_
> 
> _Missy_

***

“First of all,” said Hugo practically, “help me out here.”

Lily rubbed her feet together on his lap and looked up at him from the piece of parchment where she was copying the letters they had already replied to. “Hmm?”

“Is this Missy a woman or a man?”

“It sounds like a woman,” admitted Lily.

“So her brother’s girlfriend is either gay or at least bisexual,” said Hugo. “Which could be a perfect starting point for the conversation they are going to have with him.”

Lily cocked an eyebrow. “Straight, bi, or gay, it doesn’t matter,” she replied. “She clearly cheated on her boyfriend with his sister.”

“That we don’t know,” he replied diplomatically. “Maybe they’ve talked and confessed their feelings for one other.”

Lily sat up and took the letter from his hand, looking for the right place. “Then why did Missy write, _don’t ask me how I know it, I just do_? That clearly means that she’s hiding something. She’s slept with her.”

“I don’t think it’s that clear.”

Lily withdrew her feet until they were tucked under her bottom and she perched herself forward. “You’re kidding right?” she asked with a snort. “You’re an eighteen-year-old man; sex should be the first thing that pops into your mind when you read something like this.”

“Do I look like Fred or James?” he asked back. “I think about sex, I just don’t think that these two had sex.”

Lily opened her mouth to tell him that he surely was wrong, but he spoke before she could even proffer a word.

“Although, since we don’t know, I think that we shouldn’t mention it. And our reply definitely needs to be judgement-free.”

She looked at him for a long moment, trying to decide if he was telling her that she was judgemental. Probably he was, but probably she was a bit too. In her defence, though, she didn’t really like when people hinted at cheating on their partners, and this particular case was even worse since it was all in the family.

She handed the letter back and sat against the armrest, placing her feet back in his lap. “I’m all ears,” she said, ready to take notes.

He cleared his throat. “First of all,” he started, “the most important thing is that they talk to the brother-slash-boyfriend. Whether they have had sex or not, they are clearly living a lie. If the girlfriend has feelings for this Missy, she should inform her boyfriend. Maybe she loves them both, but if her feelings are true, she needs to inform him, and then he will be able to take an informed decision.”

Lily wrote down every word. “So, no mention of anybody’s sexuality?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, do you?”

“No.”

“Then they should prepare for some quarrels and fights, it’s important that however pure their feelings are, they know that the situation is delicate, and they have to walk in the brother-slash-boyfriend’s shoes and imagine what he’s feeling at the moment.” He chuckled softly and looked at her. “Unless he’s a bit pervy and just feels thrilled at the idea of his girlfriend and his sister together.”

“Hugo!” she exclaimed. “That’s… eew!”

He laughed out loud and winked. “Just joking,” he assured her. “Got everything?”

“Every word except the last few ones.”

“Good.” He rummaged through the piles of letters on the coffee table. “Was that the last one?”

She nodded. “Are you off to bed?”

He yawned in reply. “Unless you want me to stay here a bit longer.”

She smiled and pushed herself back up, until she was kneeling next to him. “Nah, it’s alright,” she murmured. “I’m off to bed too.” She kissed his cheek, inhaling the musky scent of his shower gel. “Thank you for your help.”

He smiled back and wrapped his arm around shoulder pulling her towards himself. “My pleasure,” he whispered, kissing her back on her hair. When he let her go, he stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow during my lunch break.”

“In front of Madam Malkin’s,” she reminded him. “Don’t be late.”

“Am I ever?”

“No, just don’t start tomorrow.”

“Duly noted. Night, Lils.”

“Night, Hugo. Sleep tight.”

“You too,” he replied from the corridor.

She lay back down once more and started writing the last letter.

***

> _Dear Missy,_
> 
> _I think you got yourself in a real pickle there. Love is a strong and dangerous feeling and it can mess things up rather bad before you even notice. ~~Shall I talk about me for example? No, I probably shan’t…~~_
> 
> _I need you to know that any confrontation with your brother might not be an easy one at this point, but of course the most important thing is that you and his girlfriend talk to him as soon as possible._
> 
> _You have to be honest with him and with yourselves, too. What do you really want? How do you really feel? You need to get ready for some quarrelling, probably; some strong words might be said, some things might happen. Stay calm, listen, reply, but don’t initiate any fight. Be considerate, please, your brother will have all the rights to get angry. Try to walk a mile in his shoes._
> 
> _I wish you three all the best. Hope everything will work out for all of you in the end. ~~Wish that back to me, too? Like, I need it… I honestly do…~~_
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Lavender_


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is your friendly reminder that this chapter contains smut. Hope you enjoy and make good use of it, my dear readers, because the next smutty scene won't be for another two weeks (but that one is a _really_ good one, I promise). 
> 
> Love you all. ♥

***

Madam Malkin’s was not filled with customers. Au contraire, Hugo and Lily were the only ones in there, and Madam Malkin herself was looking at them rather warily from over her lunch: a sandwich that she was trying to hide behind the counter every time they walked past her.

To be fair, she had started looking at Lily warily when she had asked about gladiator armours, swords, and helmets, but Hugo had apologised for her part and dragged her away, and the old witch had just nodded, looking a bit confused.

“I’m still decided to get him an armour,” she said as they flipped through skirts and dresses.

“Your mum will—what’s the right word? Oh yes—kill you.”

She shrugged a shoulder and grabbed a light blue skirt; it was fluffy and with tiny shiny beads sewed on it that made it look like a starry sky.

“This is cute,” she said, placing it on her waist. “What do you think?”

“Not for your father.”

She just rolled her eyes.

“Nor for Remus.”

“Hugo!”

“I think it’s cute,” he finally said. “But that’s too small for Rose.”

She giggled and flushed. “Oh, yeah, Rose, of course…” She hung it back with the other skirts and turned to look at him. “What?” she asked when she noticed his unimpressed expression.

“You have more clothes than any other person in the world,” he said calmly. “And most of them are on your floor.”

“Yeah, that’s why I need a new skirt: all the other ones are dirty.”

“You need to do a laundry.”

She ignored him. “Plus I would look dazzling in it.” She glanced at him and grinned. “Right?”

His tanned cheeks seemed to flush a little. He mumbled something and walked towards the children’s section. “Let’s focus on Remus,” he said, instead of replying to her. “He’s going to be the easiest one and my lunch break doesn’t last forever.”

She nodded. He was right; he hadn’t even eaten to manage to be there. Good thing she had bought sandwiches at the Leaky Cauldron before meeting him, but they needed to have time in order to eat them.

“I think a onesie is always practical,” she said, looking at the colourful little clothes. “And it can be fun and I’m sure Victoire will love it.”

He nodded. “Good idea,” he agreed. “Let’s see.” He unfolded one that said _Mummy and Daddy gave me a Sleeping Draught_ with teddy bears sleeping on clouds all around it. “This one is cute.”

“I don’t know, it makes it sound like the parents are incapable of taking care of the child,” said Lily, wrinkling her nose.

“It’s a joke, Lily.”

She unfolded another one. On the front there was a chick, a puppy and a kitten wearing sleep hats and yawning. “Oh, so cute,” she swooned.

“Right. Puppies and kittens. But knowing Victoire and Auntie Fleur, I’m sure they’ve already covered him in all the cutest animals they could find,” he chuckled. “Oi, look at this one.” He unfolded one that said _I’m 50% Animagus and 50% awesomeness_. “This one is clever.”

“Yeah, but it’s wrong.”

He looked at the pile of them. “There are more… _I’m 50% Metamorphmagus and 50% dazzle; I’m 50% Veela and 50% greatness_ …”

“We need one that says _I’m 25% Metamorphmagus, 25% Werewolf, 25% Veela and 25% awesomeness_ …” she sighed. “I’m sure they don’t have it though.”

Hugo furrowed his brow and then turned towards the counter, where Madam Malkin hurried to hide her half-eaten sandwich. “Excuse me, Ma’am,” he said, “would it be possible to have this customised?”

The woman narrowed her eyes as if to make out from the distance what model they were talking about and swallowed her lunch. “Of course,” she said, Summoning a plain one. “I’ll make one straight away. What did you have in mind?”

“Well,” said Lily, nearing the counter, “it’s a bit complicated.”

“It should say _I’m 25% Metamorphmagus, 25% Werewolf, 25% Veela and 25% awesomeness_ , even though the Veela percentage is slightly wrong,” explained Hugo.

“Nobody will notice,” Lily assured him before looking at Madam Malkin. “Can you do it?”

“Well,” said Madam Malkin, drawing out her wand, “do you want every percentage to flash one after the other, or do you want to be able to see them all together in a smaller writing?”

“Smaller?” said Lily, looking at Hugo.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

Madam Malkin nodded and raised her wand, she pointed it at the onesie and muttered an incantation that Lily didn’t quite get, then she moved her wand as if she was writing. And she was actually writing: the words appeared on the onesie in graceful letters.

“Oh,” said Lily, “and can you add a teddy bear?”

She smiled and nodded, she muttered another incantation and a teddy bear appeared under the writing.

“Oh, and can you make it change colour?”

Madam Malkin looked at her with a little frown between her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“Yes, you see, the child is a Metamorphmagus, and so far he only changes the colour of his hair, and a onesie that changes colour accordingly to his hair would be the perfect gift,” said Lily, smiling hopefully.

Madam Malkin pursed her lips, and looked from Lily to the onesie. “There’s a spell to make clothes change colour,” she said, “but it doesn’t make it happen according to the emotions of the person who wears them, like I suppose the child is doing, right?”

Lily nodded disconsolately. “Alright,” she said, “but can you do the spell anyway? The colours may coincide every now and then.”

“Of course, dear,” said Madam Malkin. “And there’s anything else you need help with?”

Lily was just about to say that no, they would keep looking by themselves, but Hugo beat her to it.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” he replied. “We’re looking for something for a girl who is turning twenty and something for a man in his forties.”

Madam Malkin nodded. “What’s the girl like?”

Hugo smiled. “Colours just like this one,” he said, nodding towards Lily. “She’s slightly taller, and slightly curvier, though.”

“I see.” Madam Malkin tutted thoughtfully and circled the counter, going towards the section Hugo and Lily had just looked through. “Blue should work beautifully for a redhead,” she said, “and this year, polka dot is in fashion. How about…” She flicked her wand and the clothes turned on the rack. “A summer dress, with a tight bodice and a puffy skirt, it’s in the 50s style.” She smiled and clarified, “Muggle’s 50s style, perfect for a holiday in a Muggle place.”

Lily touched the skirt. It was soft and seemed of good quality. The dress itself was fun, and she adored the colour. It would be perfect on Rose.

“It looks a bit tight,” pointed out Hugo darkly.

“I love it, I think it’s perfect for Rose,” said Lily cheerfully, giving voice to her thoughts. “This is going to compliment her body so well, Scorpius will thank us.”

Hugo wrinkled his nose. “It looks really short…”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t mind him,” she said to Madam Malkin. “It’s for his sister. He gets very protective.”

“I understand,” said Madam Malkin solemnly, as if she had had to deal with that sort of customers all her life. “How about,” she said to Hugo, “your girlfriend tries it out in her size and you can see how it looks on her?”

It took Lily a moment to understand that Madam Malkin was talking about her. “Oh,” was all she said when she glanced at Hugo.

“No, she’s not…” mumbled Hugo, flushing. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

Lily bit her bottom lip and shook her head. “Yeah, we’re not together…”

Madam Malkin smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” she said. “But you can still try it on, just to give your friend an idea of how the dress looks on a feminine body instead of a hanger.”

“Nah,” said Hugo quietly, shrugging his shoulder, “it’s fine, if Lily likes it, I’m sure Rose will like it too.”

“Of course,” said Madam Malkin. “Would you like it gift wrapped?”

“Can you do that? And the onesie too?” Lily was happy not to have to do it herself; she always ended up using more Spello-tape than needed and somehow it usually ended up in her hair too.

“No problem, love,” she replied. “And did you have anything in mind for the man?”

“Apart from the gladiator armour?”

“She’s joking,” said Hugo to Madam Malkin. “Maybe a shirt? Or a pair of khaki shorts? He’s going to Italy on holiday for a week, so something comfortable that he can walk in?”

Madam Malkin nodded solemnly. “I see,” she said. “We have many shirts that are good both for travelling and to blend in with the Muggles.”

“Or,” said Lily, “something elegant? I know they’re going to the theatre and probably eating out every night and doing all the romantic things that old couples do.”

Madam Malkin’s face darkened slightly at the word “old”, but then she nodded and turned away, disappearing through the clothes at her back.

“Hey,” said Hugo, “I would still take a girl out every evening and to the theatre if we went to Italy on holiday.”

Lily grinned. “Well, but you’re older than me,” she said innocently.

“Two months.”

“Exactly, so get back to me in two months and I’m sure I’ll want to go to Italy to eat out every evening and go to the theatre to listen to some boring opera…”

He shook his head, but right then Madam Malkin made her way back to them with a pile of clothes in her arms.

She had shirts and shorts, sportive and elegant suits, light and warm clothes. She laid them out for them to inspect and waited patiently as the two of them discussed what the most appropriate piece of clothing was for her father’s birthday.

It was only when Hugo’s stomach rumbled so loudly that he had to apologise, that Lily took a decision and pointed towards a white shirt with thin blue stripes. “This one is perfect,” she said. “Can you gift wrap that, too? Hmm, maybe with a different wrapping paper? So that we can recognise it, you know…”

“Yes, dear,” she said, visibly happy that her task had come to an end. She turned and walked to the counter, starting to fold and gift-wrap their purchased items.

Hugo made to follow her, but Lily grabbed his wrist and held him back.

“Here,” she said, handing him a little paper box.

He looked at it and furrowed his brow. “What is it?”

“Sandwiches,” she replied. “Just go and have lunch before you faint.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” He shook his head stubbornly. “I’ll wait for you. We’re going to be out of here in a moment anyway.”

“Yes, but your lunch break is almost over,” she reminded him, nodding towards the Grandfather Clock near the counter. “Go. I’ll pay and I’ll see you tonight.”

He seemed torn between going somewhere to scarf down his lunch and staying there with her. So she took the decision into her own hands and made him turn around before pushing him towards the entrance. “Play well,” she said, waving as he glanced at her amusedly over his shoulder.

He nodded and smiled to her, bid farewell to Madam Malkin and he was finally gone.

Lily stared at the door until it closed completely, then she finally made her way to the counter, where Madam Malkin was busy putting an elaborated bow on her father’s present.

“Charming young man,” she said with a smile when Lily approached her.

Lily looked at her with eyes wide, not sure why the old woman would pay a compliment to Hugo. Did she fancy him? Oh, she was so going to tell Hugo and tease him mercilessly. “He is,” she said, grinning.

Madam Malkin’s smile brightened up. She placed the three neatly wrapped packets in a corner and started to do the maths. When she handed Lily the ticket with the total price she perched a little over the counter and lowered her voice. “Don’t you worry,” she said almost maternally. “I’ve seen how he looks at you, I’m sure the feeling’s mutual.” She winked at Lily and withdrew behind the counter again to give her privacy as she counted the Galleons.

For a moment, Lily had thought that the witch was going to give her a discount. It happened at times: people recognised her as Harry Potter’s daughter and gave her random discounts. She couldn’t help thinking that she would have preferred that instead of… _that_. Now, she was torn between snapping at the woman to mind her own business and cut her some slack.

Instead, she just smiled and lowered her eyes, feeling her cheeks suddenly on fire for some arcane reason that she didn’t seem able to fathom. It was just a remark. Just a stupid remark, it wasn’t like Madam Malkin knew anything. Not that there was anything to know anyway…

Finally, she paid, mumbled a thank you, and left the shop slightly more flustered than she expected herself to feel after that comment. She tried to brush that feeling at the back of her head. _I bet the feeling’s mutual_ , she thought with a pout. _He’s my cousin. I don’t know what goes on in your household, but we all love each other in my family. Silly witch._

She shook her head so forcefully her hair slapped her in her eye, and made her way back home.

***

On Wednesday morning, there were nine letters waiting for Lily inside Lavender’s office, and one young man waiting for her outside Lavender’s office.

“I didn’t see you yesterday,” said Derek, a slight pout in his voice. “Have you talked to your mother and your cousin?”

Lily smiled and nodded. “Yes,” she replied. “Well, I talked to my mum and…” Her words trailed away, she was about to tell him that her mother had bought her father a week in Italy for his birthday, but she had promised not to say it. Even though she highly doubted that Derek would go all the way to the Ministry just to tell her father about her mother’s surprise. “She said that we’re going to have a quiet celebration on Friday evening. Not this Friday evening, the next one.”

He nodded. “And your cousin?”

“She’s having a party on Saturday evening in her flat,” she said. “She sent out very formal invites.”

Derek nodded, smiled and bit his bottom lip. He didn’t reply, and for a moment Lily wondered if he was waiting for her to invite him to the party. At that notion, her heart started to beat furiously in her chest. She didn’t want to. Or better, she thought there was no harm in inviting him, it might have been something polite to do, but she didn’t want to fight with Hugo. And she really didn’t want to spend the evening with Derek when she could spend it with Hugo…

“So, now that we know,” she hurried to say, her fingers going to tug her hair behind her ears nervously. “Next Saturday? Shall we try to cook something together?”

He seemed to brighten up almost instantaneously. “Sounds great,” he said. “So we’re not ditching the cooking lesson for the painting session, are we?”

Lily’s eye opened wide. She had completely forgotten about that. “Oh, yes… No… I mean if you’d rather…”

“No, no.” He smiled calmly. “First we cook, and then we paint. So I can rope you at least into another date, right?”

Her cheeks went up in flames. “You’re not roping me, Derek,” she said weakly.

“Six o’clock?” he asked, luckily deciding to ignore her lame comment.

She nodded. “Perfect,” she replied. “What are we going to make?”

“Any preferences?” he asked back. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, as if he was already thinking about what they were going to make.

She smiled awkwardly. “Nothing too difficult?”

He glanced at the ceiling, seemingly deep in thought, an amused smile on his lips. “Okay,” he finally said, looking at her, “leave it to me.”

“Nothing too difficult,” she repeated.

He chuckled and lowered his head to kiss her cheek. “Solemnly swear,” he murmured, then turned away and, whistling, he made his way towards his office.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _My girlfriend wants me to go down on her. Nothing shocking, I guess. All of my friends go down on their girlfriends. I’ve never done that though, and I said I would do it, if she gave me head first._
> 
> _It was a joke, and I was really surprised when she said yes straight away. She actually looked eager. I wonder how many things she’d be eager to try…_
> 
> _Anyway, she asked if any girl before her had given me a blowjob because she has never done it, and I said yes (didn’t want her to change her mind). Truth is, I’ve never had any girl sucking me off. She’ll expect me to direct her, tell her what to do, where to touch, etc._
> 
> _But I don’t know anything._
> 
> _Can you tell me what I have to do, how it feels (apart from amazing, I’m sure), what I should tell her, where I should put my hands, where she should put hers? I don’t want to sound like an idiot when the time comes._
> 
> _Cheers,_
> 
> _D_

***

Victoire was breastfeeding Remus when Lily stepped out of her and Teddy’s chimney. The young mother started and let out a muttered curse, and Remus’ hair changed from blue to purple and then he started crying.

Lily was more than crestfallen to have caused all that mayhem, so she just stood there, eyes wide and lips parted in an unnaturally awkward smile. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have Floo Called first.”

Victoire was not even looking at her, though; she was trying to quieten the crying baby in her arms. “It’s alright,” she growled in a way that let Lily know that it wasn’t exactly alright, and that yes, next time she should Floo Call first.

“I just wanted to say hi,” said Lily softly. “And ask you when you were going to have the party for Remus.”

Remus sobbed one last time, big, shiny tears rolled down his cheeks, and then finally he placed a hand on his mother’s breast and opened his mouth again, going back to his quiet and incredibly cute eating routine.

Lily smiled dumbly at the scene, and when Victoire finally raised her eyes on her younger cousin, she seemed to find the scene before her just as cute, for she smiled at Lily.

“Before you come and sit here,” said Victoire, “go and get yourself something from the kitchen. It’s hot today and I’m stuck on his sofa for another twenty minutes at least.” She looked down at her son and smiled. “More if Mr Lazy here falls asleep again while eating.” She pressed her finger on Remus’ nose and he stirred gently before starting to suckle once more.

“I’m fine,” said Lily, going to sit next to her. “Plus I can’t stay; I have lots of work to do.”

“Do you?” she asked amusedly. “Your afternoons spent at the beach are long gone, aren’t they?”

Lily nodded. “Yeah, but it’s alright,” she replied. “I like my job, and the more I write the closer I get to become a Quidditch correspondent.”

“Yeah, about that,” said Victoire, furrowing her brow. “Where are the things you write? My dad asked me last time he was here and was browsing the Prophet, but we couldn’t find anything.”

Lily shrugged a shoulder, looking away from her cousin. “Oh my stuff isn’t published yet… Mr Quills reads it and if he likes it, he lets me know… But he doesn’t publish it… yet… you know…”

“Oh okay,” said Victoire. “I must have misunderstood what you do, then. I’ll have to tell my dad. Tell him to stop looking for your articles.” She smiled and winked. “For now. I’m sure you’ll make the front page when they start publishing your works.”

Lily giggled at that.

“How’s Hugo?” asked Victoire. “I know he was sick on Sunday, and if we had to listen to Grandma he was on his deathbed and you weren’t far behind.”

“We’re both fine,” she replied. “We played Quidditch with his friends on Saturday and… well, it was kind of brutal. I was covered in bruises and Hugo broke his arm and dislocated a shoulder.”

“Brutal,” she agreed, nodding. “I thought you said it was a friendly match.”

“Yeah, but a friendly match played by friendly professional Quidditch players,” she admitted. “At some point I thought they were trying to kill me.”

“Why? What happened?”

“A girl threw a Bludger at me,” she said, sighing dramatically. She still didn’t know if Marie had really wanted to throw a Bludger at her, but somehow she found that she liked to believe it now that she had seen the hickey on Hugo’s neck.

“Oh Merlin!” exclaimed Victoire, her newfound mother instincts taking over. “Were you hurt?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly, Hugo shielded me, that’s how he broke his arm.”

Victoire brought a hand to her chest. “Thank Merlin he was there,” she sighed. “A Bludger can kill you, you know? Dominique says that the some of the most terrible injures they see on Quidditch players at St Mungo’s are caused by Bludgers. If it hits you in the head, you’re quite certainly dead.”

Lily blinked at all those pieces of information. Had Hugo risked his life to protect her? Did he know it? Yes, probably he knew, but no… he hadn’t exactly risked his life, he surely wasn’t going to shield her with his head. He had used his arm. Still… a few inches upwards and…

Lily shivered at the notion. Had she thanked him properly? She had tried to, but then she was annoyed when he didn’t come home with her, and then she was truly pissed when she noticed the hickey.

And he had just risked his life for her. She felt horrible now.

“Earth to Lily?” said Victoire, raising Remus and placing him on her shoulder to make him burp.

“Uh?” Lily blinked. “I was just thinking that I didn’t realise how dangerous that was of Hugo.”

Victoire smiled gently. “He’s such a gentleman,” she replied. “Auntie Hermione did a very good job with him and Rosie.”

Remus burped and yawned.

“I should probably drop this one off on their doorstep and retrieve him after Hogwarts,” she chuckled, placing him on his lap and looking at him as he closed his eyes and started to fall asleep. “I’m joking, you little, funny-haired guy.”

Remus closed his eyes and yawned again.

“I should probably put him in his cot,” said Victoire as she gathered him up again.

“And I should probably go,” said Lily, standing up. “But hey! You still haven’t told me when Remus’ party is! Remember? The one you promised us when you were still at St Mungo’s? Can I call it baby shower even if you’ve already him?”

“I think you can, and we haven’t decided yet,” she admitted as she stood up too. “I’ll let you know as soon as we set a date.” She looked at Lily and smiled impishly. “Even though, I hadn’t exactly promised you a party. I said I wanted you lot to organise me a party as a celebration of my accomplishment in creating another human being…”

Lily grinned sheepishly. “Did you? I can’t remember too well, I was too overwhelmed that day.”

“You were? I had just had a baby…”

“Right,” she murmured. “Anyway, don’t forget to let me know about a date. We’ve already bought the present, and it’s amazing.” She winked and walked towards the fireplace.

“Oh great,” sighed Victoire. “Now I’m not curious at all!”

“It’s not for you, it’s for Remus anyway,” giggled Lily. She turned and blew her a kiss before grabbing a fistful of Floo Powder and saying her address loud and clear.

***

Lily had fallen asleep again that afternoon. The letters were driving her up the wall, she found that she could reply to the easiest ones, the ones that asked technical stuff – _What’s the best subject for the Potion essay I need to write for my application letter to St Mungo’s?_ – or fashion – _Are high-waist short in or out this year?_ – but she was no good when it was up to give actual advice about emotions and sexual experiences. Which was no surprise at all.

And now, she still had a tiny pile of letters to write, and it was Wednesday, and there would be more letters before the weekend, and she just couldn’t believe how stressful replying to people was starting to become.

Therefore, it was no wonder that she had fallen asleep during all that hard work. And it was even less of a wonder that she had woken up when the delicious smell of roasted chicken had wafted from the kitchen to the sofa.

She stretched her arms and sat up, spilling letters on the floor like a fountain of paper. Miraculously the ink was not resting on her stomach as usual. She suspected that Hugo had moved it when he had arrived home.

He was giving her his back when she grabbed the back of the sofa to peer over it. He had already taken a shower and was wearing an old Chudley Cannons t-shirt and a pair of shorts, and he was busy doing something on the counter.

Lily moved as silently as she could. She placed her feet on the floor and tiptoed to where he was standing. She peered over his side to make sure that he wasn’t handling a knife before she threw her arms around his torso and pressed her face against his back.

He stiffened for a moment, surprised maybe, but when she started talking he relaxed again.

“I love you so much,” she murmured. “Have I thanked you enough for saving my life?”

“No, but that’s okay because I don’t remember when that happened,” he chuckled.

“When you saved me from that Bludger,” she said. “Victoire said you could have died.”

“Nah, I couldn’t,” he replied. “I knew what I was doing; it wasn’t the first Bludger that I got.”

She planted a sound kiss between his shoulder blades and let him go. “Well, thank you,” she replied, “then _I_ could have died if you hadn’t saved me.” She came to stand next to him. “What are you doing?”

“Washing some berries for our fruit salad.” He dried them carefully in a tea towel and poured them in a colourful bowl of chopped fruit.

Lily eyed it warily. “Because we have ice-cream, right? We’re not going to eat fruit just like that.”

“Will you set the table, please?” he asked instead of replying to her question, which was a reply in itself. They didn’t have ice-cream.

When he brought the chicken to the table, it was roasted to perfection and surrounded with potatoes. She snatched one and almost burnt her fingertips and then her tongue, but it was definitely worth it.

“Ketchup?” she asked as he cut the chicken open.

He wrinkled his nose. “It’s going to ruin it,” he replied. “Just try and eat it like this first.”

“Hugo, you’re too healthy.” She decided to forego the cutlery in favour of her fingers, and so did he. “It’s no fun being too healthy.” But he was right, the chicken wasn’t in need of any condiment, it was tasty and the skin was crunchy and just plain delicious.

“I went to see Victoire today,” she said, chewing on a big piece of meat. “She doesn’t know when she’s going to have the baby shower, but she’ll let us know as soon as she does.”

“How’s Remus?” he asked, cleaning his fingers on a napkin before taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

“Cute as a button,” she replied with a grin. “She was breastfeeding him and then he fell asleep, just like that.”

Hugo nodded. “I guess that’s what babies do: eat and sleep.”

“And burp and cry.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” He grabbed a chicken wing and brought it to his mouth. “Many letters today?”

She nodded. “Nine,” she replied. “Good thing is I’ve already replied to some of them, the easiest ones really. And even better thing is there’s one letter that’s perfect for you. You have carte blanche to write whatever you need to write.”

“How’s that good news for me?”

She smiled as sweetly as possible. “It’s good news for me? Come on, you’ll enjoy writing it, I swear.”

He narrowed his eyes and looked at her suspiciously. “What do they ask?”

“No, no, no,” she chanted. “First we have dinner, and then we work. Let’s just relax now.” Of course, he must have sensed that she was hiding something, or better he surely could feel that she didn’t want to talk about it now. He probably imagined it was something disgusting or embarrassing. “How was your day?” she asked, hoping to distract him.

“It was good, thank you,” he replied. “My team won today’s game.”

“Of course, because they had you,” she replied calmly. It wasn’t a joke, she was serious, she had seen him playing, he was tenfold better than the others, and she was sure she wasn’t biased.

He waved a hand in front of her. “Oh stop it, I’ve already said that I’ll help you with the letters,” he huffed. “Anyway, they told us the date of the trials today.”

“Already? When is that?”

“On the first of September,” he replied, his voice tensing a little. “They go on for the whole day, but we go alphabetically, so I’ll probably be in the evening. I’m the last one, I just know that.”

“And when do they tell you if you’ve made it?” she asked anxiously.

“Right away,” he replied, “in front of everybody.” He looked at her and smiled. “Oh right, you can come if you want, everybody can attend.” He sipped some more pumpkin juice. “I’m sure my parents will be there all day.”

“Oh wicked! Of course I’ll come!” she exclaimed. She wouldn’t miss it for the world. “Shall I make a banner?” She raised her dirty fingers in the air. “ _Hugo Weasley kicks ass!_ ”

“No, you shall not, thank you very much,” he replied a bit alarmed. “It’s serious matter.”

“Hey! Mine is a serious banner,” she giggled.

“Lily…”

“Alright, alright,” she conceded. “Then I’ll make the banner and bring it to you after the trials so that you can wrap yourself in it and use it as a cape.”

“You’re joking.”

“Nope, how do I get into the changing rooms?” She smiled so brightly that he was probably having a hard time deciding if she was joking or not.

He pursed his lips. “Why don’t we do this? No banner, but you can come to the changing rooms to congratulate me,” he said.

“That’s what everybody will do,” she pouted. “I wanted to do something different.”

He shook his head. “Nobody will do that, because the changing rooms are restricted to the players only,” he pointed out. “But you could ask Uncle Harry for his Invisibility Cloak?”

She opened her mouth wide. “You’d ask me to break the rules? You? Mr Hugo “Perfect” Weasley? Oh my Merlin, I’m shocked.”

He rolled his eyes. “Forget it then,” he muttered.

“No, no, no!” she giggled. “I’m joking! I’ll ask my dad for the cloak, and I can’t wait to break the rules for you.”

He looked away from her, but smiled. “Also,” he added uncertainly, “if I’m picked for the team, which I might not be—”

“You will be picked.”

“— _if_ I’m picked, there’s a party at Oliver Wood’s mansion the following night.” He looked at her and smiled weakly. “You know, it goes on all night, with lots of professional Quidditch players and… everybody says it’s fun and it’s the party of the year, and it’s good to make new acquaintances in the world of Quidditch…” He swallowed as if he was going to say something particularly difficult. “And I can bring a guest,” he finally said. “And I thought, since you’re going to be a Quidditch correspondent, that it might be good for you to meet some people that are in the league. Plus there’s lots of food, good music, and it’s real fun…”

She looked at him with eyes wide. “Are you asking me to come to the party with you?”

He bit his bottom lip. “Well, as I said… if I’m picked for the team, yeah…”

“Then why are you asking it like that?!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “Of course I want to come! A party at Oliver Wood’s house? That’s awesome!” She jumped up and circled the table, throwing her arms around his neck. “Yes, of course I’ll come. Thank you for asking me!” She giggled in his ear. “James will be furious.”

He chuckled and hugged her back. “Then I’ll book the tickets,” he said. “We have to do that at least a month prior to the party, even if we’re not sure we’ll be picked.”

“So cool,” she said, letting him go. “Are they nominal tickets?”

He nodded. “Yes, you’ll have yours with your name on it. You can’t sell it, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

She punched him on his arm. “Idiot,” she giggled before going back to her chair. “I just want my brothers to die of jealousy.” She looked seriously at him. “Now you have to get picked, okay? You cannot _not_ get picked.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “Getting a job wasn’t a strong enough motivation for me, but knowing that you wouldn’t be able to go to the party in case I wasn’t picked… well, now I’m going to work real hard.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Have I said idiot already?”

“Yes, you have.”

“Good.”

They chatted all the way through the meal, about the party, about the trials, about their future. Lily could already see herself, interviewing Hugo as he won his first match with Puddlemere United. Then her article would be on the front page of the Prophet and Mr Quills would congratulate her for having the exclusive.

They ate the fruit salad too, and Lily had to admit that it tasted good even without the ice-cream. She cleared the table and washed the dishes with a quick spell, and then they were on the sofa, seated one next to the other and already going through the letters.

“These, I’ve already replied to,” she said, placing five of them on a pile.

“Do you want me to have a look at them?” he asked nonchalantly.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe later, they weren’t too difficult,” she picked another one and placed it in her lap, then picked one for him. “This is the one that you need to help me with. It’s a guy asking a guy question, you’ll do great.” She handed him a quill and a piece of parchment. “I trust you.”

“Thanks,” he chuckled, opening the letter. He leant back against the back of the sofa and started reading it quietly.

Lily focused on the letter in her lap. It was from a girl who was scared to tell her father that she didn’t want to become a Healer like he was.

She started when Hugo pushed his letter back in front of her eyes. “I don’t know why you think I’m perfect to reply to him,” he said, his voice a bit harsh. “I’m afraid I can’t help you.” He let the letter fall on top of the one in her lap and sat back against the couch.

Lily raised her eyes to look at him, confused. “What do you mean?” she asked. “You just have to describe your experience, tell him how it was for you.”

He didn’t look at her, but opened his mouth to say something. He seemed to think against at the last minute though, and closed it again, his face darkening.

“What is it, Hugo?” she asked coaxingly. “I swear I won’t read it if it makes you feel better.”

His face darkened even more. “Lily, I can’t write a reply with my personal experience,” he snapped, “because… I don’t have any… personal experience to go by.” He closed his hands into fists, as if that confession had been particularly hard for him to make.

Lily placed both letters on the coffee table and half-turned to look at him, folding one leg under her. “You’re joking,” she stated.

He looked at her. “No,” he said flatly. “Why?”

“Because you said you went down on both your girlfriends,” she reminded him.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, so?”

“And you mean to tell me that they’ve never given you head?” she asked in disbelief. “As a thank you at least?”

“What? As a thank you?” he asked back, eyes wide. “You don’t give a blowjob in exchange of having a guy going down between your legs. It’s quite a bit more complicated than that.”  

“No, it’s not,” she replied heatedly. “It’s the same thing.”

“No, it isn’t.”

She looked at him, surprised and then slightly annoyed. “What do you mean? That going down on a woman is less noteworthy than going down on a man?”

If possible, his face darkened even more. “That’s not what I’m saying,” he grunted.

“Then what is it?”

“I just mean that… you know, going down on a woman is exciting and enjoyable, even for the one eating her out,” he explained, his cheeks colouring, “while giving a blowjob… I mean, not many girls enjoy that…”

She snorted. “Who says that?” And who said that guys found eating a woman out exciting and enjoyable? She was sure many found it at least disgusting and lame.

He rolled his eyes. “My… well, never mind.” He looked at her, annoyed. “Why Miss Potter, do you enjoy giving head?”

She licked her lips and looked straight into his eyes. “I’ve never done it before,” she said calmly, “but yes, I think I would enjoy it.” She bit the inside of her lip, not wanting him to see that she was nervous. She was annoyed with him for making distinctions between the two acts. She would show him. “Want to see if I’d like it?” She stretched a hand towards his lap, but he intercepted it, looking almost panicky.

“What are you doing?” he nearly snapped.

She licked her lips again. “Enabling you to reply to the letter?” She found his reaction almost funny, to be honest. Why was he so freaked out?

His hand was shaking slightly as he squeezed hers. “You… you don’t mean…”

“Yes, I do mean it,” she replied. Lily didn’t know how she managed to keep her voice so firm. Her heart was beating so fast and loudly she almost couldn’t hear her own thoughts, but that was key, the less she thought about it the more resolute she could pretend to be. Was she really about to do it? God. She was.

“You can’t,” he said a bit breathlessly.

“Of course I can,” she replied, twisting her hand in his. He didn’t let her go. “Why?”

“This is not something that… that you can just do like that… It’s something… it’s important, it means something. It’s not… it’s not…”

“Wait a second,” she cut him off, straightening her back. “You went down on me. Did that mean something to you?”

He shook his head nervously. “No, no,” he hurried to say. “It didn’t mean… it didn’t mean anything, I was just helping you…”

“But this would mean something,” she murmured, finally wriggling free from his hand and placing it on his thigh. He stiffened slightly at the contact. “Why?” She moved her hand towards his groin, slowly, and he bit down hard on his bottom lip. “You have double standards, Hugo.”

“No, I don’t,” he said, his voice low and breathy.

“Then can I give you head?” she asked softly, pushing her knee closer to his. “Just to thank you for going down on me.”

“Just for that?” he whispered, lowering his eyes on her fingers as they brushed against the side of his cock.

She giggled. “And so that you can reply to the letter too,” she admitted. “And so that I can learn how to give head.” She licked her lips as she wrapped her hand around his cock, it was long and it twitched when her palm brushed against it. Yes, she was about to do it. Where on earth had she found the guts?

He swallowed and let his head loll back against the sofa. “Fuck,” he said, and Lily was amazed that she had made him curse. “If it helps you,” he finally groaned.

She let him go and knelt next to him; she straightened up and brought her lips to his cheek. “Lock the Floo and Ward the place,” she whispered against his skin before kissing him there.

He swallowed again and nodded.

Lily stepped down from the sofa as he muttered the necessary incantations; she went to stand in front of him and stared at his face as she placed her hands on his knees and moved them apart. “Pay attention to what you feel,” she murmured, “because you’ll have to write that into the letter.” She knelt between his legs and he slid a bit forward on the sofa. “And tell me what to do, okay?”

“I don’t—”

“Just tell me what’s pleasant and what you want me to do for longer,” she said. Her heart was beating so furiously that she could barely hear the words that left her mouth now. Really though, why was she doing it? She didn’t know. But he had gone down on her, and they had agreed that it didn’t mean anything, so she couldn’t see the harm in giving him head. It still didn’t mean anything, no matter how nervous she was, nor how much effort she had to put into keeping her hands still.

She wanted to do it. She really did. She wasn’t going to question why she wanted to do it, but she longed to see him coming apart under her ministrations. She wanted to be the cause of his orgasm.

She looked up at him. His eyes were darker than usual, his cheeks were flushed already, his lips parted. She bent a bit forward and placed her hands on his waist, pressing her breasts against his groin as she crouched.

Then her fingers moved up and under his t-shirt. She pushed it up, until most of his stomach was bared in front of her. She looked down at the soft skin covered in freckles and at the quivering muscles underneath, then lowered her head and kissed him over his navel. Then to its left. Then its right. She trailed kisses all over his heated skin, soft and gentle pecks that made him chuckle subtly.

“This feels good already,” he breathed, “very good… God, your lips are so soft…”

She smiled against his skin and brought her hands to the front of his shorts, slowly pushing the buttons through the holes, one by one.

The muscles in his stomach stiffened slightly, and Lily could feel his cock hardening against her chest. She kept kissing him and undoing buttons, until she could feel his underwear under her fingers.

She withdrew slightly then and looked down, focusing on what to do next. She wanted to be gentle and smooth. She slid her fingers under the elastic band of his underwear. She felt the urge to look up at his face as she pushed them down, but her eyes wouldn’t leave his groin.

His hips rose from the sofa, but she didn’t shove his shorts down his thighs. She pushed them gently past the bulge of his cock, and her lips parted in awe when his erection popped out.

He was half-hard already, and Lily was flattered that he was in that condition because of her.

She looked up at him, he was staring at her, eyes and mouth wide, and he seemed to follow every movement she was making. She licked her lips and he swallowed. She brought her hand to his cock and the muscles of his thighs stiffened slightly. She closed her fingers around his length and he let out the breath that he was holding.

She looked down at his cock. It was long and slightly curved towards the right, it was smooth and warm and the longer she held it the harder it became.

“What do you want me to do?” she whispered.

There was a strangled sound, as if he was trying to talk but wasn’t managing fully well. “Stroke me,” he finally breathed.

She nodded, focusing on moving her hand up and down, gently rubbing her thumb on the underside of his cock, following a vein that went from the head to his balls. She moved her other hand to his balls, rolling them carefully between her fingers.

He let out a small groan, his fists pushed against his thighs, as if he was trying to restrain himself.

“Does it feel good?” she asked, without tearing her eyes from his cock.

“Hmm,” he grunted. “Yeah.”

It must have, because now she could see the clear drop of pre-come on the head and all she wanted was to lick it away.

She didn’t stop her movements, but slowed them down, brought her face closer, and opened her mouth. Her tongue darted out and she licked the head in one slow stroke.

“Oh shit,” was all that Hugo could find the strength to say.

She didn’t withdraw, but closed her eyes as she closed her mouth and swallowed. It tasted sweet and she found that she actually liked it.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he chanted before laughing nervously. “If I come before you even take me in your—oh shit!”

She breathed over the head and opened her lips, placing them slowly on the tiny entrance. She gave him an open mouthed kiss before moving over the length. She moved her hand away and kissed her way down it, towards his groin. Slowly, softly, gently. She breathed on it and scraped her teeth so lightly over the skin that she wasn’t even sure he could feel them. Then kissed her way back up, maddening slowly once more.

She looked up at him when she parted her lips wider and finally took him in her mouth. It was hard and warm and she descended slowly, until she couldn’t take anymore of him. She gagged on his length, and had to come back up to cough and breathe.

“You okay?” asked Hugo. He placed a hand on her arm, worried.

She coughed again and nodded. “You’re too big,” she stated.

A smug smile stretched his lips. “You just go down to where you can,” he said, “and use your hand where you can’t reach.”

She nodded again. She took him in her mouth once more and went down slowly until she started to feel it at the back of her throat. She came back a little and placed her hand at the base, covering it all.

For a moment she stayed still, wondering what she had to do exactly, but Hugo came to her rescue.

“Lily,” he whispered breathlessly, “can you… can you go up and down?”

She could and she did. She slowly went back up and then down again, her hand followed the movement of her mouth, and soon his whole cock was coated with her saliva.

Her hand slid more easily now, and she tried to add her tongue to the movement, licking and laving every inch of it.

“Oh God,” he groaned. “Can you suck it, Lily? Please…”

She sucked hard, until her cheeks hollowed and she swallowed more pre-come. She could feel his muscles tensing, and his legs almost shaking against her arms, she wondered if he was going to come any time soon. She had never seen him come; she found that she couldn’t wait to see his face as finally had an orgasm.

She licked the side of his cock and came up to breathe. She kept moving her hand up and down, looked at him, and smiled cheekily. “What do you want me to do?” she whispered.

“Everything,” he groaned, “just don’t stop… please… keep going…”

“Do you want me to suck your balls?”

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “God, yes.”

She smiled and bent her back, her hand kept moving on him, and she kissed the base of his cock before moving to his balls. They were the right size for her to put in her mouth and she sucked gently on each of them, until Hugo’s arse almost left the sofa.

He let out a series of curses and breathless groans that made her stomach tighten, and suddenly she realised that the closer he got to his release, the wetter she became. She was aroused by his arousal.

She moved each ball around with her tongue and sucked once more before going back to his cock. She took him in her mouth again, sucking hard, swirling her tongue, brushing her teeth, pressing her lips against it.

He was breathing heavily now, every muscle contracted under his flushed skin. He opened one of his fists and brushed his fingers against her arm, almost reverentially.

She blindly grabbed his wrist and moved his hand to her head, asking him without words to enlace his fingers in her hair. He was hesitant at first, but when she sucked particularly hard, he finally grabbed her locks and pulled them.

The pain was subtle and it just made her even more excited. He guided her up and down, gently, without pulling too hard, but now she finally sucked and touched where he wanted her to suck and touch.

His breath was coming out in short puffs, and when her tongue teased the underside of its bulbous head, he arched off the sofa.

“Shit,” he growled, “shit, Lily… I’m close… I’m… fuck… I’m close…” He tried to pull her back, but she didn’t let him. “Lily!” he cried almost frantically, and then he was coming against the roof of her mouth.

And she was swallowing. She couldn’t help noticing that it tasted different from the pre-come: it was stronger and had a salty aftertaste.

She looked up at him. His face was flushed, his head was thrown back, his eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily. His hand was still gripping her hair, while the other sunk into the sofa.

She let him go and was surprised when he spurted one last time on her face. She thought she had swallowed to the last drop.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned suddenly.

She met his eyes and saw that he was staring at her with eyes still dark. His body was now relaxed though, as if all those muscles had melted away.

She brought a finger to the string of come on her face and then brought it to her mouth, smiling as she sucked on her finger.

“Fuck,” he murmured again, rubbing the hand that had been in her hair all over his face.

“What?” asked Lily amused.

He didn’t look at her. “You’re a fucking vision,” he muttered. “Why are you a fucking vision when you’re covered in my spunk?” He shook his head and groaned. “God, I’m such a sick fuck. Lily, I’m so sorry.” 

He had said more bad words in that half hour than Lily had heard him saying in all his life. She couldn’t help giggling at the notion. “Did you enjoy it?” she asked, tucking him away.

He looked at her, one eyebrow cocked. “No, no,” he deadpanned, “it was boring and I hated it.” He buttoned himself up. “What do you think?”

She made a great scene of finding more come on her face and bringing it to her mouth. She giggled again when he groaned. “I’d say you liked it…” she whispered.

“Shit,” he growled. “It was great, you were great…” He bit down hard on his bottom lip, then whispered, “Now, I really want to kiss you to taste myself on you…”

For a moment, she started at his admission, for a moment she thought that it was just an excuse to actually kiss her.

Then she remembered that she had felt just like that when he had gone down on her, but she hadn’t given voice to her thoughts. It was probably normal to feel like that.

She smiled and scooped up the last drop of come on her cheek, then stood and brought her finger to his lips.

He opened up straight away, and sucked until her knees went weak. And when she tried to withdraw her hand, he kept her there with his hand around her wrist. 

“Good?” she asked him when he finally let her go.

“Not as good as you,” he whispered.

She blushed and looked away. “You know what to write now?” she asked softly.

“If I say no, can we do this again?”

She turned to look at him, eyes wide with surprise at his cheeky request. She was going to say that they could do it again even if he knew what to write, but he was laughing already.

Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Idiot,” she murmured.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, until she was sitting in his lap. “Yeah,” he agreed, hugging her to his chest and kissing her head, “but I’m your favourite idiot, right?”

***

> _Dear D,_
> 
> _All I can tell you about blowjobs is that even if you’ve never had one before, you’ll know straight away everything there is to know about them when you’re given one._
> 
> _Every direction you think you need to give her, every sensation you’re confused about, every little thing that is worrying you will completely and utterly disappear the moment she goes down on you._
> 
> _I cannot tell you, “You have to ask her to touch you here, or there,” because everybody is different and you will know where you want her to touch you the moment she does that. Tell her what you feel and what you like, but don’t worry too much because she’ll pick up clues from the way you react too – oh, and you’re going to react, don’t worry!_
> 
> _All you have to know is that if you have a girl who wants to give you head, you’re damn lucky and should show your gratitude for ever and ever._
> 
> _You’re in for a treat, man. ~~The only bad thing is that you’ll want another one as soon as the first one is over. Damn, I do want another one from Lily. Damn, she was good. Damn, I’m such an idiot.~~_
> 
> _Hope this helps,_
> 
> _Lavender_


	16. Chapter 16

***

Lily dropped off Hugo’s reply with a big, red asterisk on top. It wasn’t anywhere near too explicit, but she was sure that Mr Quills wouldn’t have been too happy to see that letter pop up next to the ones that talked about recipes or clothes.

Mike eyed the one letter with the asterisk straight away and took a deep breath, looking as if he was getting ready to have to go through some kind of fight. She wondered if Mr Quills came to him to complain about her raunchy replies and Mike had to sit through hours of his grievances. That was probably why Mike always seemed to glare at her when she walked into his office – or better, the printing room.

She was ready to leave after their usual exchange of nods and monosyllabic greetings, when he cleared his throat. “Those are lots of letters,” he said, “more than Fruit Tart could ever whip out in a week.”

She shrugged a shoulder, but smiled. “People have lots of problems nowadays,” she said, trying to downplay her advising skills. “Probably more than last month, when Lavender was here.”

“Fruit Tart has been working here for twenty years,” he snorted. “You’re good, Potter.”

Her smile turned into a grin. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re good too, Mike.” Truth was she didn’t even know how she could determine that he was good, but she assumed that since the Prophet was always printed out impeccably well that was due to his skills.

He muttered something in reply, but Lily didn’t quite get it. She supposed he wasn’t good with receiving compliments. “Off you go now,” he growled. “I’ve got lots of work to do and you’re distracting me.”

She couldn’t help giggling. “Have a nice day, Mike.”

He muttered something back, but it got lost in the noise of the machines printing out more copies of the Prophet, and Lily just looked at him as he disappeared into the room.

***

Auntie Hermione shouldn’t have been in her mother’s office on a Thursday morning. It went against all the rules of the universe; especially the one that said that Auntie Hermione never missed a work day, not even when she was sick or when she was giving birth. Legend had it that she had started her contractions during a meeting when she was pregnant with Hugo and had waited for the meeting to end before Floo Calling Uncle Ron. He had been furious with her, naturally, but she had told him that she was timing her contractions and that everything had been under control. Both her child and the house-elves’ rights.

Therefore, Lily was more than a little shocked to see her there, sitting in a chair and chatting amiably with her mother.

“See?” said her mother to Auntie Hermione when Lily walked into the office. “She’s always coming to say hi to her mummy before a hard day of work.” Her mother smiled at her and winked and Lily had to suppress a huff. That was most definitely a joke.

“Hi Auntie Hermione,” she said, walking to her. “What are you doing here?” She bent to kiss her cheeks.

“Hmm, my Lily,” she said, kissing her back. “How are you, my pretty darling?”

Lily smiled brightly at her. Auntie Hermione had called her that all her life, but somehow today it made her happier than usual. “I’m good, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you… well, you know… at work?”

Auntie Hermione sighed overdramatically. “It’s all your Uncle Percy’s fault,” she said dejectedly. “He’s working on expanding the Floo Network to all fireplaces in the Ministry and naturally something had to go wrong.”

“Uncle Percy flooded Aunt Hermione’s office with Floo Powder,” chuckled her mother. “And she can’t enter it until tomorrow.”

Lily sat on her mother’s desk, and she could hear her disapproving tut as her butt pushed inkbottles and photographs towards the edge of the desk. “Aww, so you can’t work and don’t know what to do for a whole day,” said Lily.

“Yes, and she’s come to ask for advice to the queen of procrastination,” said her mother, pushing the photograph back against her.

“Hey, I work hard!” protested Lily.

Aunt Hermione shook her head and chuckled. “I know you do, Lily,” she replied, “but I was wondering if I could tempt you with a bit of an adventure today, if you don’t have too much to do here.”

Lily looked at her, surprised. “Are you asking me to ditch work to do something else?” she asked. “Auntie Hermione, is that you?”

She smiled. “I know, it’s highly irresponsible of me, but I am dying to see my baby playing Quidditch and since he said you’ve gone and seen him flying already, I was wondering if you’d come with me to River Piddle to cheer for Hugo.” She smiled even wider now. “And then we’re off to have lunch in a nice pub, all three of us, and it’s on me.”

Lily looked at her, eyes wide. “Okay, wait, I have to choose between half a day of sunbathing—because basically that’s what we’re going to do there, bring some sun cream, Auntie—and free lunch, and work?”

“I think she’s coming with you, Hermione,” said her mother.

“Of course I am!” exclaimed Lily. “And Hugo asked me to go and have lunch with him one of these days, so he’s going to be super happy about that!”

Her mother snorted. “Yes, he’s not going to be happy to see his mother.”

“That too,” said Lily coaxingly. “Come on, let’s go.” She jumped down from the desk and grabbed Auntie Hermione’s hand. “I need to pop into the flat to get your sun cream, last time I looked like a lobster.”

Aunt Hermione stood up too, grinning. “Okay, let’s go,” she said. “Do we need anything? Some sort of identification to get into the stadium?”

“Nah,” replied Lily, dragging her towards the door. “I’ll talk to the bouncer, he kind of knows me already.”

***

As it turned out, the bouncer didn’t seem to remember Lily at all.

“Oh come on,” she said impatiently. “I’m Hugo Weasley’s cousin, and this is his mother. I came here a couple of weeks ago!”

“You can’t get in without a pass,” he grunted stubbornly.

Lily pinched the bridge of her nose. “Last time I didn’t have a pass and you let me in anyway,” she pointed out. “Relatives can get in, you said it yourself.”

“Lily,” said Aunt Hermione gently, “maybe we should ask the gentleman here how to get a pass for the stadium.”

The man looked at her and nodded. “That’s a very good question, Ma’am,” he said.

“What?” snapped Lily. “Last time you didn’t tell me I could get a pass!”

“You didn’t ask.” He turned away from them and went to retrieve some papers.

She looked at him with eyes wide. “I thought only players could get a pass,” she pointed out.

As he came back, he didn’t reply, but handed her a paper. She looked warily at it. “Fill in this form,” he said, “and then we’ll ask the player you claim to be relatives of, to sign it too, and you’ll have your pass. It’ll be only valid for a year or, in case the player is fired or doesn’t make it to the team, until the moment he’s working here, not a second more.” He turned away from them again, walking slowly towards the door that led to the stadium. “Now, who was the player again?”

“Hugo Weasley,” gritted Lily through her teeth.

The man nodded and disappeared into the corridor that led inside.

“What an idiot,” she muttered, as she started to fill in the form with her names and generalities.

“Lily,” said Aunt Hermione. “Be nice.”

She sighed, she was sure that Hugo would have laughed and he certainly would have agreed with her. She filled in the form and by the time she had signed it, Hugo was walking towards them. Sweaty, but looking cheery.

“My two favourite girls in the world,” he exclaimed, opening his arms as if to embrace them. “What are you doing here?”

“Shall we put that on the list of things that we’re not going to share with Rose?” said his mother gently. “And we’re here to see you playing, cheer for you, and take you out to lunch.”

Hugo’s smile brightened up. “Wicked, Mum. Thanks!” He took the forms from their hands and signed them. “And you’re getting a pass? That’s awesome.”

“I didn’t know you could get a pass,” pointed out Lily. “You didn’t tell me.”

Hugo smiled at her. “I didn’t know you wanted to come back to see me play,” he said.

“Of course, I do,” she replied defensibly. “I love to see you play.”

He smiled so brightly that his eyes crinkled up at the corners, and she just smiled back at him, excited that he was excited to have her there.

“Wicked,” he said softly.

Aunt Hermione cleared her throat. “Should you be away from the pitch for this long?” she asked, looking through the long corridor that led to the stadium.

“Definitely not,” chuckled Hugo. He handed the forms to the bouncer and smiled at them again. “I’ll see you inside, alright? You remember how to get to the terraces?”

“Yep, no problem,” Lily replied. “We’ll see you in a bit.”

Hugo nodded to them and hurried back into the stadium. The bouncer disappeared through a small door with their forms and a few minutes later he came back with two card-sized passes that had their names and the word ‘Guest’ on it.

“Thank you,” said Aunt Hermione with a smile.

“Yeah, thanks,” said Lily distractedly. Now at least she wouldn’t have had to go through all that hassle anymore.

The bouncer nodded curtly and let them through the corridor that would lead them to the terraces. Lily remembered the way and guided her aunt to the highest seats, for the best visual.

“It’s definitely hot here,” said Aunt Hermione, fanning herself as they sat on the concrete terraces.

Lily nodded. “It is, but the view is really good, isn’t it?”

They both looked in front of them at the players, who were flying at neck breaking speed with the Quaffle under their arms, or hitting Bludgers with impressive force and aiming at each other on purpose, or following the Snitches with big, scary manoeuvres.

Lily followed Hugo with her eyes for a while. He threw a Bludger at McLaggen, but McLaggen spun around the loop and dodged it, the ball hit one of the posts with impressive force.

“This is so dangerous,” said Aunt Hermione. “Uncle Ron told me not to come to see him play, that I won’t be sleeping for days, thinking about what my baby does. I think he was right, I couldn’t sleep for days when I came to see your mother play back in the days.” 

Lily giggled and wrapped an arm around her aunt’s shoulders. “He’s good,” she assured her, “and he’s a tough guy. And look, Auntie, there are girls too playing.” She pointed towards Marie as she flew next to Hugo.

Even from that distance, Lily could tell that she was giggling, she said something about Hugo missing McLaggen, and Hugo laughed and nodded. Then they were talking quickly, never looking away from the Bludgers that were hopping here and there, and finally Marie raised her eyes to look at Lily and Aunt Hermione.

She waved, and Lily waved back, just not as enthusiastically as the other girl did.

“Who’s that?” asked Aunt Hermione, narrowing her eyes to have a better look at her.

“That’s Marie,” said Lily. “The girl that hosted the friendly match the other day… She has a ginormous house, Auntie…”

Her aunt waved back at Marie. “She looks nice,” she said. “Is she a Beater too?”

Lily nodded and hummed in reply. “Yeah, she’s nice…” she said none-too-enthusiastically. She slid her arm from her aunt’s shoulders and looked as Marie touched Hugo’s arm and got closer to whisper something to him. Hugo laughed and smiled at her and Lily felt a vague feeling of nausea in her stomach. “She tried to hit me with a Bludger at the match,” she said without thinking. “John McLaggen was furious.” She didn’t know if it was true or not, but for some reason she didn’t want her aunt to think that Marie was a nice person.

Aunt Hermione turned to look at her, eyes wide. “Did she?” she asked horrified. “Why?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “She wanted to win?”

“And that’s when Hugo broke his arm, isn’t it?” she asked heatedly. “Oh, that was very badly done of her. I withdraw what I said about her.”

Lily felt a pang of guilt, but she wasn’t quite sure why she felt like that either. “It was just a friendly match,” she said coaxingly, “and we’re not sure she was trying to hit me. She looked very upset afterwards…”

In all honesty, she hadn’t looked _that_ upset to Lily, but she didn’t want to twist her aunt’s perception of Marie only because she was starting not to like her that much anymore. And after all, why was she starting not to like her? Just because she seemed to act all flirty with Hugo. And Hugo seemed to like it. Of course, he was a man; he liked to have the attention of a girl all for himself. And Marie was so pretty and fit and fun…

“Are you okay?” asked Aunt Hermione. “You look quite flustered.”

She brought her hands to her cheeks. They were on fire. “It must be the sun,” she hurried to say. She tried to focus on Hugo and McLaggen and Maggie and pretty much everybody else but Marie.

The trainings went on until midday. Lily couldn’t take out the letters she had retrieved from Lavender’s office, so she spent most of the time chatting with Aunt Hermione. As it turned out, she too knew about her parents’ upcoming holiday in Italy. Of course, her mother hadn’t been able to keep the secret from her best friend. They talked about presents and somehow, her aunt was slightly surprised to hear that she and Hugo had already bought joint presents for everyone.

“I thought you’d buy them with your brothers, as you usually do,” she said, “and Hugo with Rose and maybe Scorpius.”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “I haven’t talked to James and Al about it,” she admitted. “Every time I see them at the Burrow, they’re always either with a poor random girl who hasn’t noticed what prats they are, or they are teasing me, or not paying me any mind at all. It’s much easier to decide what to do with Hugo, I see him every day and, you know, he’s nice to me. He actually talks to me.”

Aunt Hermione smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling Lily to her. “And I know for a fact that you’re nice to him too,” she said. “He always goes on and on about you and how much he enjoys living with you.”

For a moment, Lily’s cheeks went up in flames as she remembered the night before. She had been nice enough to Hugo then, and she wondered if he thought of what they did when he said those things to his mother.

“Are you getting bored?” Hugo’s voice cut through her thoughts and, when Lily’s eyes focused again, she saw that he was hovering right in front of them. Marie and McLaggen were there with him.

Lily straightened up and wriggled free of Aunt Hermione’s arm, she surely looked like a child like that.

“How can we get bored when the show is this exciting?” said Aunt Hermione calmly before turning her attention to McLaggen. “Hello John, you’re a really good Keeper. Even better than your father.”

McLaggen smiled broadly. “Thank you, Mrs Weasley,” he said. “It’s nice to see you; you look younger every day that passes.”

“Don’t do that… That’s my mother,” grunted Hugo, glaring at McLaggen.

“And I was paying her a compliment,” grinned John.

Aunt Hermione chuckled. “Thank you, John. You’re a very sweet boy.”

McLaggen looked a bit disappointed to be called a boy, and Lily had to hold back a laughter at his dark expression.

“Mum,” said Hugo, “this is Marie. Remember? I told you about her, the girl who hosted the match on Saturday.” He smiled and nodded towards her. “She has a beautiful house.”

“Oh, Hugo,” said Marie, waving a hand. Then she flew a bit forward until she was hovering right in front of Aunt Hermione. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs Weasley.” She stretched a hand and Aunt Hermione shook it. “Hugo told me you fight for the house-elves rights. That’s something my whole family has always been interested in. Ever since the Dobby Law passed a few years ago, we’ve freed all our house-elves and given them some Galleons and good references, and now they visit once a year and tell us everything about their new and legally paid jobs.”

For some reason, that story seemed too good to be true to Lily, but Aunt Hermione’s face brightened up as Marie kept talking. “That was really nice of your family, Marie,” she said. “Finally, someone who takes those poor creatures to heart.”

“I do too, Auntie,” said Lily almost petulantly. “Kreacher keeps saying that I’m his friend.” Of course that was not true, last time he had said that was when she was five and had followed him around the house, pestering him until he finally said it. Now he barely talked to her, but he barely talked to anybody, really, he slept most of the time anyway.

Aunt Hermione smiled at her. “That’s sweet, Lily.”

“It is,” said Marie, smiling at her too. “Hi, Lily. I hope you recovered from the friendly match.”

Lily raised her chin. “Of course. I’m perfectly fine,” she replied just a little bit too coldly. “It takes more than a wandering Bludger to knock me out.”

“Especially, if Hugo is the one who takes the blow,” chuckled McLaggen.

Lily blushed and lowered her eyes. “Yeah.”

“Alright, so, I’ll be ready in five,” said Hugo suddenly. “Oh… I…” Lily looked up just in time to see him looking at his mother and then at Marie.

Lily’s heart skipped a beat. _No, no, no_ …

“Would you like to join us, Marie?” asked Aunt Hermione.

_Please, say no. Please, say no. Please, say no._

“Oh, I’d love that,” said Marie with a bright smile. “But I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“No intrusion,” assured Aunt Hermione. “John?”

“I’d love that too, and I’m sure I’m not going to intrude, right Mrs Weasley?”

Lily couldn’t see her own face, but she was sure the smile she was wearing was the sorriest excuse for a beam ever.

***

Lily had imagined a nice and fun lunch with Aunt Hermione and Hugo, with lots of good things to eat and quite a bit of chatting. She had been looking forward to it since Aunt Hermione had mentioned it that morning, and now…

Lily had barely opened her mouth to order a plate of fish and chips, and then Marie, McLaggen and Hugo had chatted the whole time about Quidditch. About Wronski Feints, Dopplebeater Defences, and Transylvanian Tackles. And then Marie had talked about the heart-breaking story of her house-elves, again, and Lily had to do her best not to roll her eyes, again.

It probably didn’t work too well because at some point McLaggen was looking at her with an amused smile over his face and Hugo furrowed his brown when he glanced at her after she had snorted at the umpteenth story of how much Marie had cried when house-elf number nine left her mansion for his new job.

Lily stabbed her fish with her fork and left it there. “I need the loo,” she muttered, standing up without waiting for them to acknowledge her.

In the toilet, she turned on the water just to pretend that she had actually used the loo and needed to wash her hands. She knew what they were going to say while she was away. _“What’s wrong with her?” “Why is she looking so gloomy?” “Oh Merlin, is there always a problem with her?”_ That was, naturally, if they had noticed that she had left the table at all.

She washed her hands vigorously, and then freshened up her face too. She stared at her flushed cheeks for just enough time to cringe at how gloomy she looked, and finally walked out of the loo.

She bumped straight away into a hard chest, hurting her nose more than she’d expect. “Hey!” she said, looking up at McLaggen. “Don’t you look where you’re going?”

He grinned at her, not moving to let her pass. “You know, Lily, green isn’t really your colour.”

Her face darkened even more. “Mind your own business,” she growled before furrowing her brow. “What?” She didn’t even know what he was saying.

He stretched a hand towards her face and brushed his fingers on her cheek. “You’re positively green with envy.”

She looked at him outraged, probably turning positively red with fury now. “I’m not jealous of Marie,” she said. “I actually happen to like her.”

McLaggen cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. “You are jealous that Hugo is paying all his attention to her,” he explained. He lowered his head and whispered, “Want to know a secret?”

She pressed her lips together. “Is it something stupid?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I think it’s stupid, yes, but you probably won’t.”

She rolled her eyes, it was worse than attending a lesson of Divination. “Enlighten me.”

He winked and brought his mouth closer to her ear. “Hugo keeps talking about you,” he whispered, “every freaking moment of every freaking day. It’s all Lily, Lily, Lily… I can’t take him anymore.” He tilted his head back and looked at her. “I assure you that Marie looks much better than you do in green.”

Lily lowered her eyes as the words made their way to her brain. Hugo kept talking about her. She tried to remember how many times he talked about Marie, but she really couldn’t remember the last time he did. A dumb smile stretched her lips, but she was brought back to reality only by McLaggen’s amused snort.

She looked at him and tried hard to stop smiling. Unsuccessfully. “Oh wipe that grin off your face,” she growled half-heartedly. “It’s just… I just thought… that Marie was…”

“I know,” he replied quietly. “You thought that she was nice and sweet with you because she liked you.”

Lily looked at him, eyes narrowed. “ _You_ don’t like her either.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Not very much,” he replied. “And I swear it’s not because she’s all over Hugo and looks at me as if I was not good enough for her.” His face darkened, looking very much like someone who had been turned down more than once and despite a high amount of flirting. “She’s just a bit… twofaced, you know?”

Lily nodded. Then brought her face closer to his, now it was her time to lower her voice. “Did she really want to hit me with that Bludger?”

He looked at her seriously, but before he could reply, Hugo placed a hand on her shoulder, making her start.

“I thought you said you needed the loo,” he said. “And you, too,” he added towards McLaggen.

McLaggen chuckled. “I’m surprised you noticed we were gone at all,” he said, “but yep, need the loo. Be right back, guys.”

They stared at him as he disappeared into the restroom, the door swinging at his back. Then Hugo snorted and smiled weakly at her. “I don’t know what he’s on about,” he said. “Of course I noticed you were gone.”

Lily folded her arms across her chest. “He meant that you were so deep in conversation with Marie that it was a surprise you noticed we were gone,” she said coldly.

He ran his fingers through his curls and shook his head. “He’s just jealous because he fancies Marie and… and she doesn’t really like him,” he confessed. “She told me that. That’s why he accused her of sending the Bludger to you, he’s angry with her.”

“Are you sure?” she asked curtly. “Because I don’t think he likes her that much.” She felt rebellious, all the things that McLaggen had told her about Hugo momentarily forgotten. “Not as much as you do anyway,” she muttered sourly.

Hugo shook his head nervously. “I don’t… I don’t like her _that_ way,” he hurried to say. He looked towards the other end of the corridor. “And anyway, we’ve been rude enough, leaving my mum and Marie alone at the table.” He grabbed her arm almost distractedly. “Let’s go,” he said, dragging her away.

She wriggled free of his fingers. “I’m coming,” she snapped before elbowing him away on her way back to the dining room of the pub.

McLaggen joined them a minute later.

“I thought you got lost,” said Aunt Hermione gently, wrapping an arm around Lily’s shoulders as she sat next to her. “And aren’t you hungry? You left most of your food.”

“Maybe it’s the heat,” said Marie sweetly. “When it’s too hot I find that I can’t eat too much. Unless I’ve had a training, naturally.” She smiled at Aunt Hermione. “But it’s not healthy to skip meals.”

“That’s what I always tell Hugo,” said Aunt Hermione warmly.

Marie smiled at him, but Hugo’s own smile seemed awkward this time. “I know, Hugo always reminds me when I’m not hungry,” said Marie.

Lily rolled her eyes, but she stabbed her fish with renewed force and brought it to her mouth. It was lukewarm now, but she chewed on it to keep her mouth busy and, by the time the others were ready to go, she had eaten most of her fish and all of her chips.

Aunt Hermione insisted on buying for everybody and Marie thanked her more than it was probably necessary. McLaggen elbowed Lily in the ribs and nodded knowingly at the overexcited girl as she monopolised the conversation with her aunt again. And Lily nodded back just as solemnly.

“You should go to Rose’s birthday party on Saturday,” said Auntie Hermione suddenly. “I’m sure Rose would be delighted to meet you.”

“Rose is Hugo’s sister, isn’t she?” asked Marie, a smile already tugging at her lips.

“Yes, she is,” replied Aunt Hermione surprised. “She’s turning twenty this week. Don’t you talk about you sister, Hugo?”

“No,” replied Marie before he could open his mouth. “We know everything about Lily, though.”

Lily wanted to point a finger towards Marie and scream at her aunt how she could be so deaf as not to hear the accusatory tone in her voice.

“I don’t know if Rose would be happy to know that we take the liberty of inviting someone, Auntie,” Lily said weakly. “I mean, it’s her birthday…”

“I thought she said that you could bring a guest if you wanted.”

Hugo’s smile seemed embarrassed. He looked at Marie and said, “Well, if you want to come, but I don’t—”

Marie grinned from ear to ear. “I’d love to come,” she almost screamed. “I’m so looking forward to meeting your whole family!”

McLaggen elbowed Lily in her ribs again, but she was too focused on mastering her most poisonous tone of voice to look at him. “That’s great!” she exclaimed. “I’ll bring Derek. He’s going to be so happy to meet everybody, too.”

***

When things went well between Lily and Hugo, things went really well.

When things went bad between them, though, they went really bad.

And right now they were going really bad.

From the moment Hugo had arrived home, they had started fighting and screaming so loud that Lily was sure someone in the building would come to tell them to give it a rest already any time now.

“You said you didn’t want to invite him!” snapped Hugo. “You said you couldn’t think of anybody to bring to the party!”

Lily rolled her eyes. “You’re bringing someone! I don’t want to be the only one alone at your sister’s party!” she snapped back. “And you invited Marie anyway!”

“I didn’t invite her,” he shouted. “My mum did!”

She gritted her teeth. “You didn’t look that upset with the idea of spending an evening with her, though,” she growled. “Why do you care anyway? You’re going to be too busy snogging her to death to think about anything else.”

He raised his chin. “And are you going to snog Derek?” he asked sourly.

Lily realised with a pang that he hadn’t denied it. “I might,” she replied. “Why would that bother you?”

He folded his arms across his chest and what he said next came as completely out of the blue for her. “You’re jealous,” he stated tersely. “Why are you jealous? I thought you said that it didn’t mean anything.”

“What?” she asked in disbelief. “I’m not jealous, you’re jealous! You’re the one pestering me about Derek!” She folded her arms too. “And what didn’t mean anything?”

“Last night,” he replied, looking into her eyes probably to catch any little flinch. “You said that it didn’t mean anything, just like when I went down on you and when I got you off.”

Her lips parted in surprise. It was an unspoken pact that they wouldn’t bring those things up and talk openly about them. “It didn’t,” she said a bit too quickly. “They don’t mean anything. You’re just helping me.”

His nostrils flared, but his expression was unreadable. “Exactly,” he said cryptically. Then he walked to the kitchen counter, grabbed an apple and made his way towards his bedroom. “I’m knackered,” he said, without turning. “I’m off to bed, good night.”

Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “It’s not healthy to skip a meal,” she tried to say, hoping the weak smile on her face would come through her voice.

He didn’t even stop, though, he just closed his door with much more force than necessary and then their flat was immersed in an awkward silence.

***

It took Lily two hours to fall asleep.

She dreamt of Hugo and Marie, of their wedding day, of their children – nasty little urchins – and of their beautiful house in the countryside. Then she dreamt of playing Quidditch and that people were trying to hit her with the Bludgers. Then she dreamt of a fly, tapping her nose and calling her name. It was a loud enough whisper to be annoying, and the tapping too was getting on her nerves.

She tried to swat the fly away, but her sleepy movement was closer to a lazy rubbing of her nose, followed by her hand falling on the pillow. She tried to do it again, but now she found she couldn’t move her hand anymore.

“Lily.”

She mumbled a reply, but didn’t open her eyes.

There was a thumb rubbing on her hand, and she closed her fingers around more fingers. The hand squeezed hers back.

“Lily.”

She half opened her eyes for a mere second before closing them again. “What?” she mumbled. Whatever time it was, it was too early or too late to fight. And if this was Hugo’s revenge, waking her up in the middle of the night, she would think of something to get him back tomorrow morning.

“I can’t sleep,” he murmured.

She furrowed her brow, wondering what he wanted to get at. “What time is it?”

“Three in the morning.”

She let out a sound that was half a wail and half a groan and tried to slide her hand free of his to turn on the other side and go back to sleep, but he didn’t let her. “Why do you hate me this much?” she mumbled. “Alright, I’m super happy that Marie is coming to the party. Happy? Can you let me sleep now?”

He didn’t reply and she wondered if he had already fallen asleep. Or maybe he was pretending just to try to get her to leave her own bed because it was bigger and more comfortable than the one in his room.

There was rustling of fabric, then the mattress dipped, and finally Hugo’s arms enveloped her in a tight embrace. She didn’t even have to open her eyes to know that that warm and hard thing against her cheek was his chest. He squeezed her tightly, until she had to open her mouth to catch her breath.

He was warm and she felt good in his arms. She felt sheltered, she felt safe. Suddenly, she didn’t quite know why they had been fighting. Suddenly, whatever it had been, seemed rather stupid now. After all, Marie wasn’t that bad, and it hadn’t been Hugo the one who invited her anyway. It had been Auntie Hermione, she was there, she saw it; she couldn’t really be angry with him.

He lowered his head until he was breathing in her hair. His thumbs rubbed at her sides, where her pyjamas had ridden up a little. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She pressed herself against him. “Shut up.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“Oh Merlin, just shut up and hold me.”

He did and she could feel his heartbeat and his calm breathing against her face.

They stayed like that for longer than she expected, then, when she thought he had fallen asleep, he said, “I should go.”

She snuggled even closer to him. “Stay,” she murmured into his chest.

He squeezed her tight. “I have to wake up early,” he reminded her with a sigh.

“I don’t care.”

He kissed the top of her head, and then he seemed to relax, and before Lily could even try to say something else, he finally fell asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, this is the usual author's note where I am being all sappy and idiotic, BUT I still can't believe the awesome response that this story is having, and I have no clue how to thank you all! You're a bunch of amazing people and I want you to know that you're brightening up my days with your kind and thoughtful words. And I'm not just saying this because it's my story, but because it's the Lugo, guys, and I'm so happy to know that so many of you are sailing this ship with me. 
> 
> Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ♥ 
> 
> Also, I'm very excited because these upcoming two weeks will bring you chapters that are dear to my heart and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do. Thank you sooooo much again, my lovely readers. ♥

***

The following morning, Hugo’s alarm o’clock went off at half past five. He turned off the ball that hovered over them almost immediately, but Lily stirred as he released her from his embrace.

For as much as she had liked him to hold her through the night – or the two and a half hours he had spent in her bed – she needed to move and her neck was all stiff.

She lay on her back, and looked as Hugo sat up and stretched his arms over his head. Then he rubbed his palms all over his face, yawning as if he wasn’t completely awake yet.

“You shouldn’t go if you’re too tired,” she said, hugging his pillow. “It might be dangerous.”

He chuckled softly. “And what should I say? I couldn’t sleep because I had a fight with my cousin,” he said, turning to look at her. “They’re going to laugh at me.”

She closed her eyes and grinned. “They should,” she murmured. “You’re silly.”

He moved quickly and, when she opened her eyes again, he was perched over her. “No, you’re silly,” he whispered before planting a kiss over her forehead. “I’ll see you tonight. Okay? I’ll make it up to you for being silly.”

She looked as he walked towards her door, hair in disarray. “It’s alright,” she yawned. “We were both silly.”

He chuckled again and closed her door. He cast a Silencing Charm over her room and let Lily sleep for another few hours before she had to go to the newsroom.

***

Lily didn’t know if she was supposed to invite Derek to the party or not. She and Hugo hadn’t talked about it after the fight. They hadn’t talked about Marie either.

They hadn’t talked about anything at all.

They were cool now, weren’t they? They were, but she didn’t know if they were cool because they were both being the bigger person and they were inviting their respective dates and being civil about it; or if they were cool because they had decided not to invite their respective dates and spend the night together.

Maybe she could have lied. She could have said that she had invited Derek, but he already had other plans. Therefore, she would have had to spend the evening between Hugo and Marie.

Well, she didn’t _have to_ , but she knew she would. She would dress up prettily and look completely and utterly adorable for the whole evening, and she would gloat if Marie made some nasty remarks directed towards Lily and Hugo defended her.

She shook her head to send those childish thoughts away and sighed as she made her way towards Derek’s office. It was the first time she went there, but she was late that morning and she had seven new letters on top of the nine from the day before. She had to work hard that day to write as many replies as she could muster, she couldn’t wait for him to appear in the corridor like he usually did.

She stopped before knocking on Derek’s door.

She didn’t _need_ to reply to all the letters in one day; after all, she had the weekend as well, and the weekend meant Hugo was home and he would spend time with her while he helped her.

She smiled and finally knocked quickly. She didn’t wait for Derek’s reply, though, she pushed the door open and, with a bright smile over her lips, she barged in there.

Derek was nearly startled out of his chair, a jar filled with dirty brushes fell to the floor and shattered, and he almost tore the canvas he was working on as he grabbed onto it for support.

Lily’s eyes opened wide at the scene. “I’m so sorry,” she hurried to say, drawing out her wand to help him clean. “I wanted to surprise you. _Reparo_.”

Luckily, he looked like he couldn’t help laughing. “You most certainly did.” He took the jar with the brushes from her hands. “Thank you.” He placed it back on the small table next to his easel and sat back down as he straightened the canvas once more. “And it’s a lovely surprise.” He looked at her face. “You look very tanned.”

She brought her hands to her cheeks, suddenly self-conscious. “I went to Hugo’s trainings with my aunt, yesterday,” she said. “It was so hot on the terraces.”

“But you look good,” he said with a smile. “The tan brings out the shine in your eyes.”

“Thank you,” she grinned. “Are you working on something important?”

“Just this weekend’s comic strips,” he replied, turning one to show her the Ministry flooded with Floo Powder. Uncle Percy was a constant source of inspiration for Derek, apparently. “You? Many letters to reply to?”

“Tons,” she sighed. “But I’m not here to complain.” She took a deep breath, trying to find the courage to ask him what she had to ask him. “Derek…”

“Lily.”

“Remember when I told you that I had my cousin’s birthday party to attend tomorrow night?” she asked softly.

He nodded seriously. “I do, it happened only a couple of days ago.”

“Yeah… I was wondering… you know… if you don’t have anything else to do… maybe you could…” Her words trailed away as she imagined Hugo looking all handsome as he danced with Marie. She swallowed hard, feeling awful for thinking about Hugo instead of Derek at that very moment.

“Yes?” he asked softly, hope in his voice.

She looked at him. “If you wanted to come to the party with me,” she said quickly.

He could hardly try to keep the grin off his face. “Like your date?” he asked her gently.

She nodded and tried to smile as sweetly as she could.

“I’d love that,” he said. “I’d really, really love that.”

“Great.” She tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “Great, yes, I… I should go now. So much work, you know… Tons of letters… God. Honestly… so many… I had no idea when I first accepted this job that there’d be so many letters… And I’m spending so much on ink and quills… you can’t even imagine…”

He kept grinning all through her embarrassed monologue. “Where shall I pick you up?”

Of course, he was her date. She wondered if Hugo would pick Marie up. “My flat?” She found a quill on his desk and scribbled her address for him. “Seven?”

“Perfect, but… what about your cousin’s present? Do you mind if I put some money in with yours?” he asked, looking genuinely worried.

“I… I bought mine with Hugo,” she admitted. “How about I’ll worry about that?”

“Oh Merlin, no,” he said vehemently. “I’ll bring her a bunch of flowers. Does she like flowers?”

“Absolutely,” she sighed relieved.

“I’m looking forward to this party, Lily.” He smiled sweetly.

“Me too.” She smiled back, probably not as sweetly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Seven o’clock, your flat.”

She nodded. “Great,” she said, walking towards the door. “Have a good day.”

“You too.”

Lily closed the door and leant her back against it.

She had a bad feeling about this.

***

Hugo brought home all sort of junk food that evening. Sweets he seemed to have had to Apparate to Honeydukes to buy, chips from the Leaky Cauldron, Chinese food from the tiny shop down in Diagon Alley, ice-cream from Florean Fortescue’s.

Before they even sat down for dinner though, Lily felt the urge to tell him that she had invited Derek to the party.

Then she stood there, waiting for him to hex her or curse or scream at her.

None of these things happened. He just nodded solemnly, as if he had expected that. “I understand,” he said, almost as if she had had to take a terrible decision. Then he took a deep breath and added, “I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

“No, you’re not,” she said.

He hunched his shoulders a bit. “No, I’m not,” he agreed, “but I’m curious to meet him. Aunt Ginny keeps saying what a catch he is.”

“Hugo,” she sighed.

“Let’s not talk about this, shall we?” He gestured towards the table. “Let’s have a proper junk food dinner while I apologise for my behaviour yesterday.”  

She finally sat down. “I’ve already said it’s alright,” she replied, helping herself to some chips and Chinese food. “I was being silly, you were being silly. Let’s forget about it.”

“So, everything is fine between us?” he asked softly, snatching a chip and chewing on it.

“Perfectly fine,” she replied lightly. “You know I can’t stay mad at you and vice versa.”

He nodded, but didn’t smile. “Do you have letters to reply to?”

She groaned. “Tons. Tons. Tons. It looks like they’ll never end,” she admitted. “Will you help me?”

“Of course,” he replied. “We have the whole day tomorrow before the party.”

She snorted. “Yeah, well, I need to get ready for the party too,” she reminded him. “Pick an outfit, take a shower, put on some makeup, and do my hair.”

“Right.” He rolled his eyes half-heartedly. “So we will basically have about… five minutes?”

She grinned. “Shut up,” she said. “Let’s eat and then… I think we can turn in pretty early tonight. I don’t know about you, but I’m knackered thanks to my flatmate sneaking into my room in the middle of the night.” She smiled mischievously. “Do you need to sleep in my bed tonight, too?”

He threw her a chip. “Your bed is actually ten times more comfortable than mine,” he let her know. “I might just move into your room.” He sighed overdramatically. “Of course, I’d need to clean up and tidy it first; I almost couldn’t sleep because of the mess…”

“Hey! You fell asleep before I could even move.”

He laughed at that. “I did, didn’t I? Alright, I slept very well once I moved into your bed.” He winked and nodded towards the table. “Let’s eat now before things get cold.”

They scarfed down everything Hugo had bought. Lily even mixed her ice-cream with Chocolate Frogs and Licorice Wands, and Hugo tried it out and had to admit it wasn’t as gross as it looked after all.

They cleaned the kitchen – despite Lily’s protestations of leaving it until the next day – and found out that the sofa was too small to lie comfortably on it for one last chat before bed.

“If we’re going to vote, I vote for your bed,” grinned Hugo.

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “Honestly, if your bed is so uncomfortable you can sleep with me,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. “It’s big enough for two and in the weekends you don’t even have to wake up at stupid o’clock.”

They made their way towards their rooms, changed, had to take turns for the bathroom and finally met back into Lily’s room.

“I think this was your parents’ room,” said Hugo, looking at her bed from the door.

She lay down and stretched her arms over her head. “What? I thought this was our fathers’ man cave or something.” She looked at him as he finally lay down next to her. “When did my mum live here?”

Hugo grinned. “Officially, she never did,” he replied, “but apparently, she was here much more often than my mother, that’s why your dad got the bigger room.” He turned to look at her, arms under his head. “The spot where you’re lying is probably where James was conceived.”

She closed her eyes, groaning out loud. “Alright,” she said, “you convinced me. You can have my bed, my room, whatever. I’m just going to go to the bathroom and be sick.”

Hugo laughed so heartily, she cracked an eye opened and smiled.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist,” he admitted. “I’m sure that’s not the spot. Maybe it was in the shower…”

“Hugo! Why do you hate me?”

He turned towards her and stretched an arm until he had it wrapped around her shoulder. He pulled her to him then. “I don’t,” he whispered against her hair. “I love you and I love to tease you.”

“Just like every other male specimen in our family.” She closed her eyes and leant her head over his shoulder.

“Are you falling asleep?” he whispered after a moment of silence.

She hummed in reply. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes,” he said, “better if I go.”

“You can stay…”

“It’s alright,” he replied, he let her go and pushed himself up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nodded. “Sleep tight, Hugo.”

“You too, Lily.” He smiled as he made his way to the door and she grinned before closing her eyes and listening for the faint click of the door and his soft steps in the corridor.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I’m in love. I’m absolutely, unquestionably and undeniably in love. Unluckily, I won’t be able to see him until September, when school starts again._
> 
> _My big sister says that what’s more unlucky is that he’s married and has a son who is older than me, but when you’re eleven everybody is older than you, right?_
> 
> _What do I do? I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I’m always sad. My parents want to take me to St Mungo’s to be checked by some Healers, but I only need him…_
> 
> _Help me, Lavender!_
> 
> _Thank you,_
> 
> _J.B._

***

Lily was grinning from ear to ear when she passed the letter to Hugo. “I’ll give you a Chocolate Frog if you can guess who J.B. is talking about!”

Hugo skimmed through the letter and sighed. “Oh Merlin. Neville?”

“Everybody loves Neville,” giggled Lily. “I used to have a crush on him too.”

“I remember. You kept writing his name everywhere,” snorted Hugo.

“Once I even sent him an anonymous Valentine,” she confessed, smiling at the thought, “but he received tons every year, so…”

Hugo nodded. “I know,” he said. “I think some guys sent him Valentines, too.” He furrowed his brow. “Why Neville, though? He’s not super handsome, nor very fit… What do girls see in him?”

“Well, first of all, you have to consider the other teachers, half of them are women, the other half are decrepit,” she stated thoughtfully. “Then… well, Neville has that look of… you know… someone who has fought in a war.”

“Like my dad, your dad, and basically everybody we know who wasn’t born after the Second Wizarding War?” asked Hugo, cocking an eyebrow.

Lily rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but he pulls it off really well, you know… with those half-smiles and those hands—”

“What does he do with those hands?”

“You know, he just touches your shoulders, or hugs you when you’ve potted a plant particularly well…” She sighed. “And his hands are so big and warm and you just want them on your face and—what?”

Hugo furrowed his brow. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You were looking at me as if I was talking rubbish.”

“No, no. I can assure you that I was finding it all very interesting,” he said, smiling. “In fact I was taking mental notes of what appeals to girls about Neville.”

She thoughtfully rolled a lock of hair around her finger. “He’s also funny, and caring, and when you have a problem you can go to him and he’ll listen to you as if you’re the only person in the world,” she went on, “and that makes you feel rather special.”

“Okay, thank you, now I know what to do next time I meet a lady,” he chuckled.

She waved a hand in front of his face. “You already do it,” she said nonchalantly. “You already listen to people and you’re funny and make girls feel special.” She felt herself blush a little, but focused on the letter and tried to regain some sort of composure. “Alright, what do we reply? Apart that she’s eleven, she’ll get over him, and her letter is altogether rather silly…”

“Lily,” said Hugo gently, “pretend that was you.”

“That doesn’t help.”

“Does it still sound stupid?”

She sighed. “No, it doesn’t.” She looked at him. “Well?”

He leant back against the chair. “I think you should tell her that yes, she’s still young,” he said, “and that she shouldn’t worry about love and relationships at her age. But you also should tell her that Neville is particularly handsome and you understand what she means when she says that she fancies him. Many girls have felt for him like she does, but he’s a married man and it wouldn’t be right of her to try to pursue him – or pine for him, it would be more appropriate – since he has a family.”

Lily chewed on her quill. “She’s eleven, she’s not going to understand words like ‘pine’,” she pointed out. “How about I tell her that she should look for someone closer to her age and… someone who is unmarried and without a kid?”

“I bet that could work too,” he said. “That’s what you’d expect an Agony Aunt would reply anyway.”

Lily narrowed her eyes as she stared at the letter. “Okay, I’ll tell her that she’s too young for relationships. To eat, have fun—bloody hell! She’s on holiday—and not think about a professor during summer… She’ll see him in September and anyway, anything can happen in a summer.” 

Hugo nodded. “Sounds good,” he agreed. “What was that?”

“Number eleven,” she replied, “still five to go.”

He glanced at the Grandfather Clock near the chimney. “Shall we continue tomorrow? I thought you had to get ready for the party.”

She nodded. “And you too,” she said, trying to smile. “Are you going to dress up for Marie?”

He waved a hand in front of her face as he stood from the chair. “Not in the mood for dressing up,” he replied. “I’ll wear something nice otherwise my sister will think that I don’t care about her party, but you know…”

She nodded, even though she didn’t know. She was going to dress up for Derek, and for Hugo too, but she didn’t care to admit that. “Can I use the bathroom first?” she asked.

“Are you going to leave it in a state?”

“Do I ever?”

“Always.”

She sighed. He was right. “Okay, you can go first.”

He chuckled. “Nah, it’s okay. You go.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “No, you go,” she insisted. “I’m going to feel less anxious if you go first.”

“Anxious about what?”

“About getting out of the shower in time for you to take your shower, about leaving everything clean, about—”

“Okay, I got it.” He walked towards the corridor. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Thank you!”

He hummed a reply and closed the door at his back, leaving Lily there to pick up the letters and put them away.

***

He really took only a minute, Lily was still trying to find her other shoe – that had somehow ended under her bed – when he knocked on her door and said, “Bathroom’s free.”

“Thanks!” she replied. She had already laid out all her clothes. A blue dress with a bow on the small of her back and her underwear. Cute flowery lingerie that, she was certain, nobody would see that evening. She Summoned the other shoe and finally placed them near the bed. She looked around herself at the mess that was her room, and sighed. She really needed to tidy up and finish unpacking.

The bathroom was perfectly clean and dry, and her towel and shower gels and shampoos were neatly placed in display for her. She imagined that Hugo didn’t want her to finish off his Oliver Wood musky scented whatever thingy. She didn’t want to use it either, didn’t particularly care to smell like a Quidditch player at the party.

She took her time to get ready; first by enjoying the warm water then, after the shower, by spreading lotions and creams, combing her hair in waves and putting on as much makeup as she was allowed to without looking trashy. It wasn’t easy.

When she slipped out of the flooded bathroom and back into her room, it was almost six thirty. She let the towel fall carelessly to the floor and donned the dress and the shoes.  

Hugo knocked on her door the moment she was sliding one earring in place. “Come in.”

“Are you presentable?” he asked as he pushed the door open.

She hummed and looked at his reflection in the mirror. “What?” she asked when she noticed his surprised expression.

He shook his head, looking away. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “You just look gorgeous.”

She stuck out her tongue and grinned. “You sound surprised.”

He shook his head again. “I’m off to Marie’s house,” he said. “Is Derek coming to pick you up?”

She nodded. “At seven sharp,” she said. “I’m perfectly on time.”

He still wouldn’t look at her. “I’ll see you at the party, okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “See you in a bit.”

He nodded and closed the door at his back, leaving Lily to look for her necklace. She found it under a pile of unused parchment and clasped it behind her neck. She managed to find Rose’s present and wondered what Marie would give Hugo’s sister for a present. Surely something super expensive.

She wrinkled her nose at that notion and finally made her way to the living room. She wondered if maybe she should have prepared something to drink to offer to Derek, but there would plenty of alcohol at the party, she was sure about that. And he had said that he didn’t like to drink that much so…

There was a knock on the door and Lily straightened her shoulders as she strode towards it, trying to look calmer and cooler and more secure of herself than she actually felt.

Derek was standing on her landing, looking quite dashing in a white shirt and blue trousers. Blue! Was it destiny that she was wearing blue too?

“Hi,” she said with a smile. “Come in, did you find the house alright?”

He walked inside. “Hi to you too,” he said. “You are a vision, and yes, house super easy to find thanks to your instructions.”

He had a gigantic bunch of roses in his hands, and when Lily closed the door at his back and turned, she found herself in front of a single white lily.

“For you,” he said with a smile.

Lily smiled and took it in her hands. “Thank you,” she said, inhaling deeply. “It’s beautiful. You remembered lilies are my favourite.”

“Not too difficult to remember, to be honest,” he grinned. “I got roses for Rose, hope she likes them.”

“She loves them,” Lily assured him. “We’re easy to please.”

He smiled and looked around himself. “So, this is your place,” he said. “It’s really quite bigger than I expected.”

“Oh, it’s not that big,” she said. “Living room and kitchen are here, the rooms and the bathroom down that corridor.”

“I like the open space in the kitchen; it makes it look bigger.” He seemed to look around himself even more insistently now. “Is… hum… is your cousin home?”

She shook her head. “We’ll meet him at the party,” she said. “He’s off to… to pick up his date.”

Derek’s lips spread into a smile. “I thought you said he was single,” he admitted cheerfully.

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “He is single,” she replied rather coldly. “My aunt set him up with a girl who trains with him.” She placed the lily in a glass and magically watered it. “Shall we go? I’m starving and I want to be there before the others scarf down everything.”

“Let’s go,” he said, nodding. “I’m excited and nervous in equal parts to meet your family.”

She smiled. “I’m going to stand right next to you, I promise.” She grabbed her present for Rose and offered Derek their pot of Floo Powder. She gave him the address, and then stepped in the fireplace. “I’ll see you in a second.”

“I’m right behind you,” he said, smiling.

***

The party was already in full swing when they arrived at Rose’s flat; of course, most of the people there were her hungry cousins, so Lily imagined that they had been there since six, begging Rose and Scorpius for something to eat.

She turned towards the fireplace, but never saw Derek coming out of it because Rose’s arms wound around her neck and her voluminous hair was thrown in her face.

“Hey!” giggled Lily. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you,” said Rose gently. “Thank you for coming.” She let her go and let out a soft, “Oh!” and Lily knew that Derek had just arrived at the flat too.

“Rose, this is—”

“Derek,” she finished for Lily. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Lily swallowed, turning the colour of her hair. “From my mum,” she hurried to say. “She speaks a lot.”

“And from Lily, too,” said Rose, in a staged whisper. She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheeks.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rose,” he said politely. “Happy birthday,” he added, handing her the big bunch of roses.

“Oh, thank you!” she exclaimed. “These are beautiful.” She dunked her nose into the flowers and inhaled deeply. “Thank you, you’re so sweet.”

“Thank you for having me at your party,” he said with a smile.

Lily drew out her present from her bag. “Where shall I put this?” she asked. “It’s from Hugo and me.”

Rose’s eyes shone with anticipation. “On that table over there,” she said. “Thank you.” She touched Derek’s arm and added, “Food’s over there, and Lily’s cousins and her lovely brothers are crowding all around it. Are you ready to meet her family?”

He smiled brightly. “I’m looking forward to it,” he admitted.

Rose giggled. “Hold that thought.” Then someone else appeared in the fireplace and Rose hurried to welcome them.

“You’re not really looking forward to meeting my brothers, are you?” asked Lily. “You’re just being nice.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting Hugo,” he admitted calmly. “I’m curious to see this young man you keep talking about.”

They neared the table with the food and Rose had been right, her two brothers, and Fred and Louis were all crowding around it. Scorpius was there, too; he was looking particularly happy as a co-host of the party, showing off the beautiful decorations that he had helped Rose to hang, and gloating at every compliment he received for the food, almost as if he was hosting the Malfoy New Year Grand Ball.

“Hi,” said Lily as they stopped near the table. “Have you left something for us?”

Her brothers and her cousins turned to look at her, but their eyes truly brightened up when they spotted Derek, and Lily felt her heart skip a beat at the realisation that they were going to embarrass her mercilessly in front of her date.

“Hello, little one,” grinned Fred, hastily wiping his fingers on a napkin before grabbing her arms. Lily cringed. “I haven’t seen you in a while.” He smiled. “Oh, probably I wasn’t looking down.” He snickered before going to Derek. “And you must be Derek, the artist.” He shook his hand. “Are you being a gentleman with our Lily?”

“Fred,” she warned him.

He ignored her completely, and so did everyone else.

“Derek,” said James, stretching a hand towards him. Derek shook it, and James pulled him a bit towards himself. “I’m Lily’s older brother, if you make her suffer—”

“James!” she gasped horrified. That was not really happening; her brother was not threatening her date.

James ignored her. “You know what’s going to happen to you, right?” He lowered his voice in a staged whisper. “Let me just tell you that my brother and I are Aurors, I’d send you to Azkaban before you can even understand what’s coming your way.”

Derek swallowed. “I’m… I don’t want to make her suffer,” he said.

“Do you love her?” asked Albus, stretching his hand towards him as soon as James let him go.

“Al!” Lily’s cheeks were on fire now.

“I… I…”

“Enough,” snapped Lily, pushing Albus away. “I’m so sorry,” she muttered towards Derek. “I have the worst family.”

“Hey, can I be introduced, too?”

Lily glared at Louis. “Derek, Louis. Louis, Derek,” she growled. “Now, excuse us, we’ll find something to eat and a place where you can’t disturb us.”

Scorpius winked at Derek. “She means where she can snog you.”

Lily let out a frustrated grunt – which was rather unsexy – and grabbed two plates, handing one to Derek. “Let’s go.”

There were elaborated canapés that seemed to have come out of a French food magazine. Lily just placed a bunch on her plate and did the same with Derek’s, not even wondering what was rolled inside that puff pastry or what those green seeds on top of the elaborated mini cakes were called. She guided Derek to a corner where some chairs had been placed for guests to sit, and plopped down heavily. The flat was quickly filling up with people, more cousins, friends of Rose from Hogwarts, her colleagues from the Ministry.

“I’m so sorry for my family,” said Lily. “They don’t know how to behave.”

Derek smiled gently at her. “Don’t worry, they’re fun.”

“Please, you don’t have to lie. I won’t tell them what you really think.” She brought a canapé to her mouth and discovered that inside there was a little sausage. It was delicious.

“Hmm,” she hummed, “try this one.” She pointed towards the matching canapé on his plate and he smiled again as he brought it to his mouth.

“Tasty,” he replied, chewing on it politely. “I should ask for the recipe.”

“I bet Scorpius’ house-elves made them,” she giggled. “And you can’t tell my aunt about it.”

Derek smiled amusedly. “I don’t even know your aunt,” he pointed out.

“You’re right,” she mumbled. “I just—”

“Hugo! I thought you’ve gotten lost somewhere!” Rose’s happy cry could be heard over the chatting of the guests, and Lily looked at the fireplace, eyes wide and heart beating furiously.

Hugo was hugging Rose and smiling. He whispered something in her ear – probably _happy birthday_ – and then patted her head affectionately. When he released her, he turned towards the girl that had been spat out of the fireplace after him. He introduced her to Rose and Rose seemed supremely happy to finally get to know her.

Lily’s wide eyes lingered on Marie. She looked effortlessly beautiful, as if she had woken up like that and had worn the first thing she had found in her huge bedroom, and… voilà! She was a vision nonetheless. Her short hair was framing her face prettily, and her long, red dress, hugged her toned body in an almost too outrageously stunning way.

She blinked out of her reverie when Hugo and Marie were momentarily surrounded by their cousins.

“So, that’s Hugo,” whispered Derek. “He’s tall.”

Lily turned to look at him. “Yeah,” she replied, “shockingly tall.” She took a deep breath. “And the girl in red is Marie, his date.” She bit her bottom lip. “She’s flawless,” she admitted with a sigh.

Derek shrugged a shoulder. “She doesn’t do much for me.” He smiled at her. “I think there’re much more beautiful girls than Marie at this party.”

Lily smiled, her cheeks flushing. She was going to say that he was sweet, but Dominique stepped right in front of them before she could even open her mouth.

“Hi Lily,” she said brightly. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Dominique, this is—”

“Derek,” Dominique cut her off. “I know. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Our Lily keeps talking about you.” She stretched her hand and Derek stood to kiss her cheeks.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Dominique,” he said politely. “Isn’t yours a French name?”

She nodded and smiled. “My mother is French,” she said. “We all have French names in our family.”

“She’s Louis’ sister,” explained Lily. “And her older sister is Victoire, but she’s home with her baby tonight.”

“You’ll need to come to one of our Sunday dinners at the Burrow to meet her,” giggled Dominique, “as well as Lily’s parents and her lovely uncles.” Dominique looked down at Lily. “What do you think, Lily? Will Uncle Charlie Portkey home from Romania to meet the love interest of his youngest niece?”

“Dominique!” she whinged. Merlin, she was worse than the guys. “Shut up.”

Dominique grinned. “Aww, isn’t she pretty when she blushes?” she asked Derek.

“She’s always pretty,” he said brightly.

Lily felt like she could have dug a hole in Rose’s floor and lain there forever. Or until her cousins and brothers stopped with the jokes and Derek stopped with the embarrassing praise.

“Have you met Lucy and Molly?” asked Dominique. “And Roxy? Have you met Roxy? She’s a hoot.”

“I still haven’t had the pleasure,” replied Derek.

“I’ll go and find them,” she exclaimed. “Oh, they’re going to be so happy to finally meet you!” She hurried away before Lily could even try to groan out her disappointment.

“She’s lovely,” said Derek, sitting back down next to Lily.

“She is, and she’s loud and chatty.” She tugged a lock of hair behind her ear. “She’s a Healer at St Mungo’s.”

“Is she? Interesting. What about Rose? I’ve already gathered that your brothers are Aurors…”

“God, sorry again about that,” she groaned. “Rose works at the Ministry. She’s helping Uncle Percy with the Flying Carpet issue.”

Derek nodded. “I see and—”

“Hey.” Hugo’s voice seemed a bit choked and extremely close when it reached Lily’s ears.

She raised her eyes and found that he was standing right in front of her, eyes wide and face serious, much more serious than one would expect from someone at a party.

“Hey,” replied Lily faintly before turning towards Marie. “Hi, Marie.”

“Hi, Lily,” the girl replied cheerfully. “You look so cute in that dress.”

“And you look ravishing,” she said, forcing herself to smile.

A pause followed that statement and it went on until Derek coughed slightly next to her. She looked at Hugo again and stood from the chair. “Hugo, Marie,” she said softly, “this is Derek.”

Derek stood up, too, a warm smile stretching his lips. “It’s a pleasure,” he said, shaking hands with Marie first.

“It’s so good to meet you,” said Marie enthusiastically.

When he turned his attention towards Hugo, Lily held her breath. Hugo stretched his hand towards him. “Nice to meet you,” he said, probably trying to hide the coldness in his voice.

He didn’t succeed that well. On the other hand, Derek seemed much more natural.

“Nice to meet you, too, Hugo,” he replied. “Lily told me everything about you. You’re training to play with Puddlemere, right?”

Hugo let his hand go. “Yeah,” he said, nodding towards Marie. “We both are.”

Derek nodded, his face seraphic. “That’s fascinating, you must be really good at Quidditch,” he said.

Hugo glanced at Marie and smiled. “We’re alright,” he replied. “We still have five weeks to improve before the trials.”

“Yeah,” said Marie, “but Hugo doesn’t need improvement. He could play with Oliver Wood tomorrow if he asked him.”

Hugo seemed unable to contain a smug grin, and Lily just rolled her eyes.

“Marie too,” he said. “She’s good. She kicks my arse every day.”

“Except it hasn’t happened yet,” pointed out Marie with a grin of her own. “I’m not as fast or as strong as he is.”

“Derek is a fantastic painter,” Lily felt the urge to interject. “He’s painting famous people, you know!”

Hugo and Marie looked at her before turning towards a rather embarrassed Derek.

“Are you?” asked Marie gently.

“Yes, he is,” replied Lily at his place. “But it’s top secret, he can’t talk about it.” She placed her hands on his arm and squeezed gently. “But he’s very good. I’ve seen his paintings, they’re extraordinary.”

Derek chuckled, embarrassed. “Lily…”

Hugo’s question was unexpected, his cold tone wasn’t. “Have you painted Lily?”

Derek tried to smile, but lowered his eyes and glanced askew at Lily, as if for a moment he wasn’t sure what to answer to Hugo. Then he seemed to find something. “Lily is far too beautiful for me to manage to do her justice,” he replied evenly, placing his hand over hers.

Lily felt her cheeks burning at his words; she smiled up at him, taking great care to avoid looking at Hugo.

“She is, isn’t she?” said Hugo coldly. “Shall we get something to eat, Marie? Before Lily’s brothers scarf down everything my sister has prepared.”

Marie nodded. “Oh yes, I’m starving. See you later, guys.”

Lily had just the time to glance at them before they disappeared, swallowed by the crowd of people that had finally arrived to the party. Lily’s hand slid from Derek’s arm and she sat heavily back on the chair.

“I’m sorry about Hugo,” she said. “I swear he’s usually very well behaved.”

“You need to stop apologising for your relatives,” chuckled Derek, “or I’ll have to start doing that every time my dad calls you into his office.”

She looked at him. “Your dad isn’t impolite with me,” she pointed out. “He just says things as they are, but he’s always polite. My cousins and brothers just want to tease me and pretend to threaten you…”

“They’re just being protective of you.”

“They’re being rude,” she said curtly. “Listen, I—”

“This is Derek!” exclaimed Dominique as she pushed Molly, Lucy, and Roxanne forward. “Lily’s boyfriend.”

There were high-pitched murmurs and giggles and Lily closed her eyes not to have to witness her older cousins squealing like piglets in front of her date. She sensed Derek standing up and shaking their hands, and then there were questions and more giggles that Lily tried to ignore.

“Have you seen Hugo’s girlfriend?” asked Roxanne in a whisper loud enough for Lily to hear. “She’s gorgeous.”

Lily opened her eyes to glare up at her. “She’s not his girlfriend!” she snapped.

“Not yet,” giggled Molly. “But I bet two Galleons that he’s going home with her.”

Lily stood up and folded her arms across her chest. “She lives with her parents,” she let her know sourly. “That’s gross.”

Lucy cocked her head. “Then you better put a Silencing Charm over your bedroom,” she said, winking.

“Oh shut up,” growled Lily, rolling her eyes. She turned towards Derek and grabbed his wrist. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t even try to protest or stop her, he let her guide him towards the glass door that led to a tiny terrace that overlooked Diagon Alley. It wasn’t big enough for more than three people, and Lily was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t already occupied by a snogging couple. She closed the tall door at her back and sat on the stone parapet, finally looking up at him. “Have I already said, I’m sorry?”

He smiled reassuringly. “For what? Your family is amazing, seriously. I’m well jealous of how many cousins you have, and they’re all great fun.” He went to sit next to her. “And I don’t think Hugo is going to take Marie home.”

She looked at him, surprised. “How do you know?” she asked.

He shrugged a shoulder. “He doesn’t seem _that_ interested,” he replied.

Lily lowered her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “Anyway, I don’t care.”

Derek didn’t reply, he turned to look at the view at their backs and Lily could almost hear him smile. “It’s gorgeous,” he said.

She turned to look, too. “Yeah, the perks of living in an attic,” she replied. Then an idea made its way in her brain. “You should ask Rose and Scorpius to let you paint here,” she said, eyes wide. “Wouldn’t it be an awesome painting?”

He looked at her and smiled. “It would,” he replied. Then he stretched his hand towards her face and slowly pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. “You know what would make it even more awesome?” he asked softly, his hand lingering on her cheek.

She shook her head imperceptibly and held her breath while he seemed to gently inch towards her.

“You,” he breathed. He closed his eyes and tilted his head a little and Lily’s heart skipped a beat as he came even closer to her.

He was going to kiss her. The realisation hit her so hard that for a moment she felt her stomach churn. He couldn’t kiss her, not there, not on a terrace at a party. Everybody could… _Hugo_ could see them and she didn’t want that. She took a sharp breath before his lips could touch hers, but Derek didn’t seem to notice. He moved even closer, his fingers brushing softly on her skin, he puckered his lips and…

“Oh bloody hell, occupied already,” grunted a voice as the glass door was pushed open. “Oh damn it. It’s my sister! Come, I’ll introduce you to her.”

Lily blinked as Derek withdrew almost nervously from her. She had never been happier to be interrupted by James. She stood up and turned towards her brother, who was already looking tipsy and had an arm around a curly-haired girl with glasses.

“Jo, this is Lily, Lily, Jo,” he said, gesturing from Lily to the girl. “And this is Derek. He’s my sister’s boyfriend.”

“He’s not—”

“So, are you going to clog up the snogging spot for long?” asked James, winking at Derek. “At least, if you’re here we can keep an eye on you and we know you’re not doing something else.”

Derek smiled coldly, looking as if he was offended that James had hinted that he would have sex with Lily at a party. “Please, go ahead,” he said, gesturing for James to move towards the parapet. “We were just going back in.”

“Yeah, right,” chuckled James. “If you need to keep going for a bit longer, I mean…”

“We disturbed them,” said Jo. “We did, didn’t we?” she asked Lily crestfallen.

Lily smiled reassuringly. “Nah, we were just going back in,” she assured her. “We wanted to get something to drink.” She looked at Derek. “Right?”

“We did,” he replied. He moved against the parapet and then towards the wall, and Lily did the same as if in a slow-motion game of musical chairs. She smiled at Jo as she slid through the window and back inside the flat and Derek followed her a moment later.

“Still loving my family?” she asked in a whisper.

He shook his head, but smiled still. “I have to admit, James’ timing is spot on,” he chuckled.

“Yeah,” she had to agree. She guided him towards a corner that had been converted into a small bar and only then she noticed that music was blasting through the Wireless. “Two tequilas,” she said to a young man who was distributing drinks. “Do you like tequila?”

Derek looked at her surprised. “I do,” he replied. “I didn’t expect you did, too.”

She giggled. “I need something strong if we’re going to dance,” she said. “I’m not the best dancer.”

He nodded seriously. “Me too, then.”

They both downed their tequilas, and it went straight to Lily’s extremities, warming and numbing them at the same time. She asked for another two and only then Lily deemed themselves ready to dance.

She wasn’t any better than usual, but she felt much more secure with the alcohol in her system than without it. She dragged Derek towards the centre of the living room, where other couples were twirling already and she smiled up at him.

“I apologise in advance for your toes,” she said. “At least, I’m not too heavy.”

He laughed and grabbed her waist and her hand. “It’s alright,” he said. “I wore my leather shoes tonight. I won’t feel a thing.”

He was a great dancer, though, and Lily was just amazed at what a good lead he was. He made her twirl and turn as if she was a doll in his arms. He smiled encouragingly when she stepped on his toes. He brought her closer to him when the music slowed down.

She thought that it was all very romantic indeed, and for a moment all her cousins who had teased her before disappeared from her mind.

Suddenly, her heart started to beat faster in her chest. The people around them vanished as well, and now, there were only Derek and her and… _and Hugo_?

“Oops. I’m so sorry,” he said as he crashed into Derek’s side. “I’m such a bad dancer.”

Lily recused the blow too, and she glared at Hugo. Her cousin didn’t pay her any mind, though.

“Mind if we switch?” he asked Derek.

Lily glanced at a surprised Marie before she was grabbed and swept away by Hugo. He dragged her to the other side of the flat and she just had the time to look back at an embarrassed Derek before Hugo went to stand in front of her.

She looked up at him. “What is wrong with you?” she snapped. “I was dancing!”

“I can see that,” he replied coldly before grabbing her waist almost painfully and trying to drag her into a dance. “Are you having fun?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” she replied, wriggling a bit under his fingers to find a more comfortable position that made his digits not dig into her flesh. “Are you?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you being this rude with Derek?” she snapped.

Roxanne almost elbowed Lily in her ribs as she twirled around with a tall guy and she giggled an apology before disappearing into the crowd.

“I’m not,” he replied sourly.

She could feel her nostrils flare. “Really? If I acted with Marie like you do with Derek you would scold me like a child.”

His face darkened and he lowered his eyes before taking a deep breath. “I don’t like him,” he muttered pathetically, slowing down his dancing.

“You’re the only one,” pointed out Lily. “Everybody likes him.”

Hugo made her twirl around, but didn’t reply.

“What is it that you don’t like about him anyway?” asked Lily as she stood once again in front of him.

He stopped dancing and, for a moment, he looked at her, eyes wide and almost sad. She could feel his fingers rubbing her side affectionately. But when he spoke again, it was not to reply to her. “Can you come with me for a moment?” he asked in a whisper.

Lily furrowed her brow. “Where?” she asked back.

He shrugged a shoulder and closed his fingers around her wrist. She let him guide her towards Rose and Scorpius’ room, but the door was locked; he tried to get into the bathroom, but it was occupied. He didn’t seem to be discouraged, though, and finally managed to find an empty room. Well, of course the pantry was empty, there were no teenagers at this party, nobody had to hide to smooch.

He pushed Lily inside and locked the door at their backs. “ _Lumos_ ,” he said, and placed his wand on a shelf to light up the tiny room.

“Are we going to raid your sister’s food and bring it home with us?” asked Lily, trying to lighten the mood.

He looked at her and sat on a short stool that Rose used to reach the higher shelves when she didn’t have her wand with her.

“Listen,” said Hugo suddenly. “I am so sorry. I swear I am trying really hard to be civil to Derek.”

“I think you have to try harder,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest. “You’ve talked to him twice through the whole night and both times you’ve been brusque.”

He shook his head. “I’m trying, but…”

“But?”

He shook his head again. “Marie is kind of mad with me,” he said, looking up at her and smiling, “because I’ve been staring at you all night.”

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to keep an eye on me,” she said. “And I would be pissed with you too if I were your date and you stared at another girl.”

“Even when that girl is my cousin?” he asked gently.

“I wouldn’t care if the girl is as pretty as I am,” she said, smiling.

He grinned and gestured for her to get closer to him.

She cocked her head and pursed her lips, but took a step towards him nonetheless, until she was standing in front of him. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, leaning his head against her stomach. “I swear I’ll try harder,” he murmured before looking up at her. “Sit next to me while we have the cake,” he said. “I want to talk to Derek.”

She placed a hand on his head and ran her fingers through his curls. “Alright,” she said, not really looking forward to having to talk to Marie while Hugo talked to Derek. “How are the guys behaving with Marie?”

Hugo shrugged a shoulder. “They keep saying what a pretty thing like her is doing with someone like me,” he replied. “Typical.”

“We need to ditch our family,” sighed Lily. “They’re embarrassing me with Derek.”

“Do I need to punch anybody?” asked Hugo with a grin.

“Yes, you first of all,” she said, then stepped back and nodded towards the door. “Let’s go before they start wondering where we are.”

He nodded and stood up. “Yeah, let’s go,” he said as he unlocked the door. “I don’t want to give Marie another excuse to be mad at me.”

***

The cake had more layers than it was physically possible to have in a cake, and Lily was sure it was kept upright by magic. Surely, it had been one of Scorpius’ ideas to have such a gigantic dessert for his girlfriend’s birthday party.

Rose had to step on a chair to manage to blow off the candles on top of it and she was so embarrassed she was turning the colour of her hair.

The cake was delicious though, filled with custard, chocolate drops, and raspberries. Lily sat next to Marie and smiled as naturally as she could, while Hugo seemed to start a conversation that she couldn’t hear with Derek.

“So, are you having fun?” she asked Marie.

Marie nodded. “Your family is very interesting.”

“Do you mean nosy and loud?” asked Lily weakly.

“Derek is a fascinating young man, too,” she added in a whisper, smiling. “He likes you very much, you know?”

Lily lowered her eyes and stuffed her face with more cake, trying to take some time to decide what to reply to her. “He is great,” she finally said before swallowing. “We’re having fun.”

“And he’s a painter,” she said. “It must be interesting to see him at work.”

Lily nodded, noticing that she hadn’t seen him working, yet. “He says he wants to paint me,” she admitted in a whisper, “like I have to pose for him as a model, you know?”

Marie’s eyes shone at the admission. “That’s so romantic,” she said. “Most Muggle and Wizard painters found their lovers amongst their models, did you know?”

Lily’s eyes widened a little. “No, but… but I’ve known him only for a few weeks,” she said. “We haven’t even kissed yet.” She glanced at Derek and saw that he was laughing at something that Hugo had said. Finally, Hugo was doing a fine job at being civil with him and she appreciated it immensely.

Lily turned towards Marie. “What about you and Hugo?” she asked with a forced smile.

Marie’s smile seemed to turn into a smirk. “Oh, we’ve kissed alright,” she said. “I really like him, and my parents do, too. They invited him to Sunday lunch next week.”

Lily’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know if it was because of the admission that they had kissed – even though, she already knew that – or because Marie and her parents both liked him or because he was invited to Sunday lunch at theirs.

“We always go to the Burrow on Sunday,” said Lily mechanically. “Like always. Our grandma gets really upset when we don’t go.”

Marie shrugged a shoulder. “He said that,” she sighed. “We’ll have to move it to another day, I suppose. A Saturday would be alright, do you think?”

She wanted to tell her that Saturday was the day she and Hugo spent together, when he helped her with the letters, but that would just sound stupid and selfish. “I’m sure it’d be perfect,” she replied hoarsely. “He’ll love it.”

Marie smiled as warmly as she used to do when she had just met Lily. “Great,” she said, “and maybe one day we can double date with you and Derek, wouldn’t it be great?”

Lily nodded. “Great,” she whispered.

The music was turned up all of a sudden and Marie let out a soft giggle. “Let’s go,” she said, placing both of their plates on a windowsill. “I want to dance with you, Lily.”

Lily let Marie drag her to the middle of the living room, but her head was miles away as she thought about Marie and Hugo, and her and Derek.


	18. Chapter 18

***

When Lily opened her eyes on Sunday morning, she was happy to notice that she was perfectly fine. She hadn’t gotten drunk the night before and she hadn’t forgotten anything that had happened; her head didn’t hurt and she wasn’t nauseous. She wasn’t even tired; in fact she felt perfectly rested.

She stretched her arms over her head, but didn’t get up. She just covered herself up to her nose, recalling the events of the night before.

She had danced with Derek, with Hugo, and with Marie. She had even danced with Rose later that evening. Why did everybody want to dance with her when she was such a lousy dancer?

Hugo had been civil towards Derek and Lily had had confirmation that Marie had been the creator of Hugo’s hickey. Derek had walked her home after the party, and she had moved her head at the very last moment before he could kiss her on her lips. She had babbled an apology, but he had just smiled and kissed her forehead instead.

She had waited for Hugo to come home and no, they hadn’t fought. She had been calm and he had been calm, too. She had asked him if he had had fun, and he had asked if Derek had been a gentleman.

They had gotten leftover ice-cream out of the fridge and eaten it from the bowl.

“Do you think it’s going to be incredible annoying to face our family tomorrow?” Lily had asked thoughtfully.

“You mean because of all the banter?” he had asked back. “Probably, but we can always tell Grandma and she’ll make them shut up.” He had smiled then, letting her know that he was joking.

“Are you going to Marie’s house to have lunch with her parents?” Lily had complimented herself for her steady tone of voice then.

He had looked at her, probably surprised that she knew about that. “Marie talks too much,” he had muttered. “I don’t know, they want me to go on a Sunday, but there’s the Burrow on Sunday.”

“You can go. Grandma won’t have a heart attack if you’re away once,” she had said softly, shrugging a shoulder.

He had smiled at her, but then he had announced that he was ready to go to bed and had wished her goodnight.

Lily fisted the sheets in her hands, she had been good at keeping herself in check around Hugo the night before, and she had to keep doing it.

She didn’t know exactly where her feelings for Hugo came from – after all, she had known him all her life – but they were not something that she should have yielded to. Au contraire, she had to fight them. Her relationship with Hugo was too perfect for her to be careless and let it be tainted with all the complications that love brought. He was her best friend, her flatmate, her cousin. The person she could go to for just about anything. Therefore, she had to lock those feelings far away from her heart and be content with what they had.

Moreover, Hugo was protective and probably a bit possessive of Lily, but he surely didn’t feel for her the way she felt for him, and there was no way she could confess to him how she felt either. After all, she wasn’t even sure of what she actually felt. She was jealous of the other girls he talked to, but she had been jealous of other girls talking to her brothers, too – before she was old enough to understand that she was better off when they had a girl to pay attention to – and her other cousins. She felt her cheeks flush when she touched him, but it was a hot summer, after all. She always wanted to be close to him, but she had said it herself, they were a very tight-knit family.

Lily opened her eyes and furrowed her brow. Yes, that was it. She had to remember that it was her first time living alone with a young man – a _handsome_ young man – and she had probably misunderstood what was going on between the two of them. Well, certainly, the letters had not helped one bit.

Anyway, she had to be supportive of Hugo’s relationship with Marie, and probably try to focus on her own relationship with Derek. Derek was such a gentle soul, he had a job, and he was serious; honestly, what more did she want?

 _Don’t answer that,_ she chastised herself when Hugo’s smiling face flashed before her eyes. Damn it, she was incorrigible. She scrunched her eyes up and waited for the sun to become more intense. Her bed was comfortable and she didn’t want to get up any time soon. Therefore, she took a deep breath and let herself fall asleep once more.

***

Lily sat on the porch of the Burrow, staring at her cousins flying lazily on their brooms. They were playing Quidditch with less players than usual; most of them were too tired from the night before to do anything but stretch on the grass a few feet away from her.

Not Hugo. Hugo was up there, hitting Bludgers as if his life depended on it. Lily looked at him. He seemed happy, despite the stupid amount of banter he had to go through during their meal, just like Lily.

They had supported each other though, and both had almost snapped back at some point when Albus had commented what a pretty couple Derek and Marie made while they danced.

Lily sighed and lazily clapped her hands when Fred scored.

“Too tired to play?” asked Aunt Hermione.

Lily looked at her aunt as she sat next to her. “Too lazy,” she replied, “and a bit annoyed with all the banter about Derek.”

Aunt Hermione smiled. “Rose said that he’s very handsome.”

“He is,” she replied, nodding. “And he’s an artist, and he’s polite and sweet, very sweet.”

“Have you invited him to the Burrow yet?” asked Aunt Hermione. “Or shall I ask Uncle Percy to flood my office once more so that I can come to the newsroom to see him?”

Lily smiled and bumped her shoulder into her aunt’s. “I haven’t invited him yet. Not here, nor anywhere…”

“I see,” she said. “Does that mean that you have no special plans for next weekend?”

Lily glanced at her before furrowing her brow. “Apart my dad’s surprise party?” she asked in a whisper.

“That’s on Friday,” she reminded her. “I meant on Saturday and Sunday.”

She thought about her date with Derek, but now she wanted to know what her aunt was talking about. “Nothing that can’t be rescheduled,” she admitted. “Why?”

Aunt Hermione glanced around herself to make sure that nobody was listening to their conversation. “Well, your parents are leaving on Saturday morning,” she said, “and Uncle Ron and I thought that we might take a mini holiday too.”

Lily cocked her head. “Where?”

“We rented a tiny cottage in Penzance,” she said. “The beaches are nice and the sea is warmer there.”

“That’s lovely, Auntie.”

Aunt Hermione smiled. “We asked Rose and Scorpius to come with us,” she said. “You know, as an additional birthday present to Rose. But they’re both busy with work those days, since they’re leaving the following week for their actual holiday.”

“I see.”

“So we thought,” continued her aunt, “that there are two rooms in that cottage and we can’t see why we should not make the most out of it.” She tucked some locks behind Lily’s ear. “What do you think?”

 “Are you asking me to come with you?” grinned Lily.

Aunt Hermione nodded. “If you’re okay with sharing a room with Hugo,” she said. “We asked him earlier and he was enthusiastic. I think he needs a bit of a holiday, what with all those trainings…”

“Yes!” she replied. “I need a holiday, too!” She threw her arms around Aunt Hermione’s neck and hugged her tightly. “Thank you, Auntie!”

Aunt Hermione laughed and hugged her back. “Mum’s the word with your brothers and everybody else until your father’s birthday party, okay? We don’t want your cousins to think that have favourites because we didn’t ask them.”

“Solemnly swear,” she said, placing a hand on her heart. “I’m so excited! I need to buy new clothes! And I definitely need a new bikini.”

“I thought you got plenty of clothes when you went to France back in June,” she pointed out.

“Shush, Auntie!” she giggled. “You never have enough clothes.”

“I’m sure your mum would disagree,” she said with a little shook of her head.

“That’s why I’m not telling this to her,” Lily giggled. “But you’re the cool aunt, I can tell you.”

Despite how intelligent Auntie Hermione was, like all adults, she melted a little as Lily called her ‘cool’. “We’ll go shopping in Penzance, too,” she promised. “Maybe we can convince Uncle Ron to buy us something nice…”

And they both giggled at that.

***

Lily hadn’t talked to Hugo about the mini holiday for the whole time they were at the Burrow, but now that they stepped out of the fireplace of their flat one after the other, she just couldn’t resist anymore.

“We’re going to the beach!” she cried, hugging him forcefully. “How super awesome is that?”

“I take it that you said yes to my mum’s proposal,” he said, chuckling. “And it’s super awesome.” He hugged her back. “Of course, I’ll have to sleep in the same room with the messiest person on earth, but I’ll make do.”

“Hey!” she said, tilting her head back and poking his chest. “We’re staying for two days; I won’t have time to mess things up.”

“Oh, Lily, you underestimate yourself,” he said sweetly.

She wriggled free of his embrace. “Your mother said—and I quote—that you were enthusiastic to spend two days with me,” she pointed out, raising her chin. “You can’t go back on your word.”

“I’m enthusiastic to go to the beach,” he corrected. “I spend every day with you anyway.” He raised a hand before she could retort anything. “Best days of my life,” he assured her way too solemnly to be considered serious.

She stuck out her tongue to him. “I need to buy so many bikinis,” she said thoughtfully, “and new clothes, oh and I need a dress…”

“You’re full of clothes,” he pointed out, “and we’re staying for two days, how many times do you have to change bikini?”

“As many as required,” she said calmly. “I’m so excited!” she added with a little screech. She literally started jumping up and down and Hugo just shook his head, amused, and let her give vent to all her happiness.

***

On Monday morning, Lily filled Mike’s basket with sixteen letters. She had worked hard on them with Hugo until almost midnight the day before; one of them was so obscure they weren’t even sure what they were asking. How to attract a Kneazle or how to repel it? Was it destroying their garden or did they need one to keep the rats away? They hadn’t understood, so they just replied to everything.

Mike nodded satisfied. “We were almost running out of them,” he said calmly. “Good thing you brought some new ones.”

“I think you’re covered until Wednesday at least,” she replied. “Those were sixteen.”

He nodded again. “Wednesday,” he repeated thoughtfully, then raised his newspaper in front of his face once more and Lily knew that the conversation was over.

“See you tomorrow, Mike,” she said as she walked out of the printing room. She made her way to Lavender’s office and found ten letters waiting for her; she stuffed them quickly in her bag, and went to look for Derek.

He was working in his office, surely focusing on trying to finish some comic strips for the following day. This time she knocked on the door and waited for him to reply, though.

“Hi,” she grinned when she opened the door. “Can I disturb you?”

“Always,” he replied with a smile. “How was your day at the Burrow?”

She walked inside, sat on a chair and rolled her eyes. “Ugh,” was all she could muster. “I was almost going to hex someone.” She sighed. “They kept asking me what we were going to call our children and when the wedding is… They can be such children.”

“Aren’t they all older than you?” he chuckled.

“Yes, they are! Thank you.” She bit her bottom lip. “Although I’ve done my fair share of teasing when one of them brought someone to a party, but alas, the guys don’t care about the teasing and half of the girls are in a stable relationship now, so…”

Derek nodded. “So, it’s basically you that they focus their banter on now,” he said. “Did Hugo come to your rescue?”

“He was teased mercilessly too, because of Marie,” she sighed, shaking her head. “Oh well… I’m actually here to ask you something, but first,” she smiled from ear to ear, “promise me that you won’t get angry.”

He furrowed his brow. “Why would I?” he asked. “And I’m pretty sure I can’t get angry at you.”

Her smile became almost a dumb one. “You’re too sweet to be real,” she muttered before clearing her throat. “Is it okay if we reschedule our next date? My aunt asked me to go to the beach with her that weekend, and I kind of said yes… but only if we can reschedule, okay?”

His face, which for a moment had seemed incredibly disappointed, smiled gently at her. “Of course, Lily,” he said honestly. “Of course we can reschedule. Where are you going?”

“Penzance,” she replied. “I’ve never been, but apparently the beaches are nice and the sea is warm, and there are nice shops and my uncle is taking us shopping.” She giggled.

He smiled at her enthusiasm. “When shall we have our little cooking date?”

She took a deep breath. “Hugo and I were thinking about inviting our parents to the flat the following Saturday,” she said, “mostly because my parents will be back from Italy and we want to hear everything about the trip. But I’m not doing anything on Friday… What do you think?”

“I think that next Friday can’t come soon enough,” he replied. “What day is that?”

“The seventh.”

“The seventh of August, perfect,” he said. “You’re still coming to mine?”

She nodded. “And we’re still cooking, aren’t we?”

He nodded back. “I’ll teach you all my secret recipes.”

She smiled and got closer to him, until her lips brushed against his ear. “Thank you,” she whispered before kissing him on his cheek.

He smiled back at her and seemed genuinely touched by her kiss, even though he probably expected much more than that by now. Her hand lingered on his for a bit longer, and then she stepped away and towards the door.

“I’ll see you soon, Lily,” he said, and she smiled and nodded before walking out.

***

The week went on much more slowly than Lily would have wanted. She spent most of Monday and Tuesday answering to letters, or at least writing down ideas until she waited for Hugo to come home so that he could finally help her.

Their work was distracted by talks of their upcoming mini holiday, though, and they couldn’t answer to a lot of letters Lily had found in the office. Also because there were eight more on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Lily found ten more letters and she started to panic that she would have had to take them to Penzance with her. She really didn’t want that. If anything, she wanted to spend those two days sunbathing at the beach, shopping with her aunt, and eating out.

Nonetheless, despite being tight on time, she decided to go on a quick excursion to Madam Malkin’s. She found two cute bikinis that weren’t going to leave weird lines on her skin – Dominique owned one that was all strings, and it was beautiful, but it left all sorts of funny paler lines on her hips. And she also found a dress and an oversize shirt to wear over her black shorts.

She was happy when she noticed that she hadn’t taken more than an hour in the shop and finally she hurried back home.

She spent the afternoon fighting against a persistent drowsiness, and the letters didn’t help one bit.

She was very good, though, she didn’t fall asleep until half past five. And when she did, she had already finished seven letters all by herself.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I need a bit of help. My boyfriend wants to move into my flat. We’ve been dating for two years now, and he thinks he’s ready for that step. I’m ready too, don’t get me wrong: I love him. The thing is, I really don’t want to get back home after a hard day of work and have to cook for two, do his laundry, pick up after him, fold his clothes, etc… I like to lose my uniform and lounge on the sofa until I have to drag myself to bed. Isn’t it the best way to end your day?_
> 
> _How do I tell him that no, he can’t move in with me, without hurting his delicate feelings?_
> 
> _Thank you in advance,_
> 
> _Tee_

***

“My mum gave me the programme for the trip,” announced Hugo on Thursday evening. “She swung by at the stadium just for that.”

Lily looked up for the umpteenth letter and rubbed her eyes. “There’s a programme?” she asked, yawning and closing her eyes. “Cool,” she murmured.

He chuckled as he plopped on the sofa near her. “I think someone is tiring herself out with all these letters,” he said.

She hummed in reply, stretching her feet until they rested in his lap. “I just don’t want to bring them on holiday,” she groaned. “I want to spend two perfectly fine days without having to think what to reply to these desperate people.”

He placed a hand on her feet to keep them there, and stretched an arm to grab the letter in her hands. She opened her eyes only when said letter was replaced with another piece of parchment.

 _Penzance 2026,_ it read.

She looked at Hugo, but he was already reading the letter he had taken from her. He was still flushed from his trainings, but he wasn’t sweaty. He wasn’t even wearing his uniform, so she imagined that he had already taken a shower back at the stadium.

She looked down at the programme Aunt Hermione had drafted for them.

> _Penzance 2026_
> 
> _Saturday, 1 August 2026:_
> 
>   1. _8:00 a.m. Portkey activates;_
>   2. _8:02 a.m. Arrival at the cottage_
>   3. _8:30 a.m. Breakfast_
>   4. _9:00 a.m. Beach_
>   5. _12:00 a.m. Lunch_
>   6. _1 p.m. Nap or games_
>   7. _4 p.m. Either more beach or shopping_
>   8. _6:30 p.m. Dinner out_
> 

> 
> _Sunday, 2 August 2026:_
> 
>   1. _Beach all day_
>   2. _Lunch and dinner_
>   3. _Portkey activates at 10 p.m._
> 


“Apart from the wakeup call on Saturday,” she said, looking up, “this sounds cool.” She chuckled and added, “Your mum kind of gave up on the second day, though.”

Hugo shrugged a shoulder. “Better that way,” he said as he raised his eyes from the reply he was already drafting. “I think my dad had something to say about that first day there, found it a bit too rigid…” He went back to the letter and kept on writing.

Lily smiled at him as he worked hard, even though he couldn’t see her. He was the best. “Are you excited?”

He hummed in reply.

“Are you excited to share a room with the messiest person on earth?”

He snorted. “You’re funny,” he replied. “Here,” he added, handing her the reply and the letter. “Are you hungry?”

She looked at the letter and nodded. “Starving.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Have you had lunch?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Crisps and Chocolate Frogs.”

He groaned as he stood up and walked to the kitchen. “Bloody hell. I can’t leave you alone.” He took out a pan from the cupboard. “We’re having eggs tonight with lots of vegetables and no, you can’t complain.”

***

> _Dear Tee,_
> 
> _You have two options here. You can either lie to your boyfriend and tell him that you’re not ready for such a big step as living together – which is totally understandable, don’t you worry. Or you can be completely and utterly honest with him – and this one is my favourite option._
> 
> _You are his girlfriend, not his servant. He needs to know that. He needs to know that you’re not there to take care of him as if he is a child. Each of you needs to do their part: do things together or take turns. You can lay out a weekly plan before he moves in, and hang that on the door where everybody can see it._
> 
> _I also suggest you have a trial period, you know, and he case he doesn’t pass it, you send him back to this place._
> 
> _I hope this helps._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

“The reply is brilliant,” said Lily as she stood from the sofa. “Hum… we… do we need to take turns or do things together, too? Like was this a not-so-veiled suggestion that I don’t do much around here?”

“No, I wasn’t talking to you, Lily. And I think we both do our fair share of things around here,” he replied calmly. “Set the table, will you?”

“No problem,” she replied.

“See? You’re doing enough, don’t worry. When you’re done with that, I need another massage.”

She smacked him lightly on the back of his head. She had to jump to get there. “So funny.”

“Hey!” he protested, rubbing the offended spot and turning to look at her. “I’m the cook, and I can leave you foodless if it so pleases me.”

She stuck out her tongue. “That pleases me, too; I’ll have the other bag of crisps and more Chocolate Frogs.” She stretched her hand to reach the cupboard where her junk food was stacked, but he intercepted her.

“Stop it,” he said, pulling her to him and away from the cupboard. “You’re going to kill yourself with all that rubbish. We should throw it away.”

“Don’t you dare, Hugo Weasley,” she said. “I need it to go through those letters.”

He pushed her towards the table. “You need real food,” he said. “Now, sit and relax because dinner is served.”

She did as she was told, and they ate fried eggs and ratatouille and Lily had to recognise that they were delicious. She didn’t say that out loud, naturally, but kept pestering Hugo about dessert through the whole meal, until he Summoned a letter just to try and ignore her.

“You can’t read while you’re eating, that’s very impolite, didn’t you know?” she chirped, giggling as he stubbornly kept ignoring her.

As he read the letter, though, something changed in his demeanour. He wasn’t looking at her, but his face became very serious all of a sudden, and the muscles of his shoulders seemed to stiffen slightly. His blue eyes darkened and, when he reached the end of the letter, he took a sharp breath.

He looked up at her and slowly placed the letter on the table, making it slide over to her side as if it contained something extremely dangerous.

She furrowed her brow and placed her hand over it, Hugo let his fingers linger for a bit longer on top of the parchment and then finally let it go.

“Is it… one of _those_ letters?” she asked softly as she picked it up.

He didn’t reply, and her heart skipped a beat as she lowered her eyes to read it.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I can’t understand why people would do some things. Wait, let me rephrase that: I can’t understand why some people enjoy doing all sort of disgusting things when they are having sex. Isn’t the good old vaginal sex enough? No, of course not._
> 
> _My boyfriend wanted to try out oral sex, and even though I have to admit that him going down on me feels ridiculously good, I still have to take a really deep breath and calm myself every time I give him head. I mean, honestly._
> 
> _Now, though, he wants to take our sexual relationship to “another level” – as he calls it. Anal sex; that’s what he wants. He says I’m going to love it, and the thing is… he’s probably right. But that doesn’t mean that at the very thought of being buggered there, I don’t feel a shiver run down my spine. I mean, we’re not made to put something in there, are we? And… God! This is so gross! I really can’t think of anything more disgusting (alright, rimming probably. Merlin! If he asks me that, I’m going to leave him)._
> 
> _But I don’t want to disappoint him, I really want him to know that I can do it, and I’m sure it’s going to feel good… at some point… Am I right?_
> 
> _Okay, so apart from a great amount of reassurances, I also need some suggestions on how to make it as painless as possible, as pleasant for both of us as it can get, and most importantly as clean as something like this can be._
> 
> _I know I can trust you – I’ve read your suggestions about oral sex before my boyfriend and I tried it out – and I’m looking forward to understanding every secret about anal sex._
> 
> _By the way, will I burn in hell?_
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _M xx_

***

Lily didn’t look up straight away when she reached the end of the letter. Hugo hadn’t made a sound as she had gone through it, and now she really didn’t want to look up at him and just calmly discuss it.

Merlin, why couldn’t people go to St Mungo’s and talk to their Healers? Why did they think that having their business printed in the paper would make their problems all the less embarrassing? And couldn’t they be mindful of the poor girl who was behind Ask Lavender at that very moment? She was just a little girl and she had to reply to their delicate questions and guide them as they experimented with their sexuality. Merlin! What would they say if they found out that instead of the experienced Lavender Brown there was a freshly-out-of-Hogwarts teenager who had only had sex a bunch of times in all her life and was scared to kiss? They would be rather unhappy, she suspected.

Suddenly, Hugo cleared his throat and that sound alone seemed rather awkward itself.

She looked up at him, but couldn’t keep herself from lowering her eyes again.

“You need a quill?” he asked hoarsely, offering her one.

“Yeah, right,” she muttered with a snort.

Hugo placed the quill back on the table. “Is that a no?”

She looked up at him, feeling her cheeks on fire. “What do you think? I wouldn’t even know where to start,” she said sharply.

He nodded imperceptibly. “Cause you’ve never had…”

“Of course I’ve never had,” she growled. “You reply to her, ask your ex-girlfriends and then reply to her.” She pushed the letter back towards him, a resolute expression on her face.

Hugo furrowed his brow. “Because you think I have.”

“Haven’t you?” she asked sharply.

“No,” he replied curtly. “I’ve never had anal sex.”

She swallowed, for some reason that was unexpected and a relief. “Okay,” she murmured. “I’ll… I’ll just tell her not to have anal sex with her boyfriend. I mean, if she doesn’t feel comfortable, why should she?”

Hugo snorted, “You can’t write that to her. That’s not what she asked. She needs reassurances and someone to guide her through the experience.”

“Then I’ll tell her to go and ask a Healer,” snapped Lily. Why was she getting so nervous about that conversation? She didn’t know, but she was.

Hugo nodded softly. “Okay.”

“Okay?” she almost snapped. “What do you mean _okay_?”

“If you don’t feel comfortable—”

“It’s not that I don’t feel comfortable, it’s just that I… I don’t know what to write.”

Hugo nodded and looked at the table; he tapped his fingers on the surface and hummed without really saying anything, his cheeks seemed rather flushed now.

The silence that descended upon them was awkward, but somehow Lily didn’t seem able to say anything to break it. She could feel her heart beating in her chest at double speed compared to a few minutes before.

Then Hugo spoke again, and it was just what Lily felt he would say. “I can help,” he whispered so softly, she wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined that.

Lily looked up at him; his face was serious, flushed, but serious. “What?” she asked just as softly.

“I’ve… I’ve helped you before, I can help you again,” he replied quietly.

“You’re not serious.”

He cocked his head, biting down hard on his bottom lip. “Why?”

“Why?” she asked in disbelief. “Why? What do you mean, _why_?” She swallowed and suddenly felt that she was breathing hard. “This is sex. Proper sex. No, not even sex… this is… this is… the nasty kind of sex. We can’t…”

He furrowed his brow. “I’ve gone down on you, I’ve fingered you, you gave me a blowjob,” he listed down their escapades as if he was listing what ingredients they needed for a cake. “How is this different? That’s sex too, you know.”

“It’s not!” she snapped, but even as she said those words, she knew she was lying.

He folded his arms across his chest. “You said they didn’t mean anything—”

“They didn’t.”

“Then why are you so—”

“This is different, Hugo,” she said, eyes wide. “It’s… I… I’m…”

“You’re scared?”

She took a sharp breath as she tried to find something to reply to him. For a moment, she couldn’t find the strength to put two words together, though.

“Because I would never—”

“Of course I’m scared,” she said, almost desperately. “God. Do you even understand what you’re asking me?”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Yes,” he replied in a whisper. “I’m sorry, I didn’t…” His voice trailed away, he shook his head, and stood up, Summoning the plates and turning away from her as he placed them in the sink. He switched on the water and started washing them thoroughly, without magic.

Lily stared at his tense back. “Are you angry?” she asked sourly.

He turned at once, his face surprised. “No, no!” he hurried to reply. “Of course not…” He lowered his eyes and sighed. “Well, yes. I’m angry with me, because I’m a pushy git. I’m sorry.”

“Can you tell me the honest truth?”

He looked at her, dead serious. He didn’t reply.

“Why do you want to do it?” she asked simply.

He swallowed again. “To help you.”

“The honest truth, Hugo.”

He pressed his lips together. “To help you,” he repeated, but his voice had a little quiver, Lily could tell.

She cocked an eyebrow, firmly believing that wasn’t the truth.

“Can I ask _you_ something?” he asked back.

This time she was the one who didn’t reply.

“Why don’t you want to do it?” he asked her softly.

Her jaw dropped. “Because it’s a very intimate act,” she replied, feeling her cheeks burning. “And because… because it goes too far… it’s… it goes too far…”

“You think it’s different from what we’ve done so far.”

“Yes,” she gritted through her teeth. “Yes, of course it’s different.”

“Okay,” he replied. A soft smile painted on his lips. “Let’s forget about it, shall we? As always I was an idiot, let’s agree about that. So, what time are we going to Grimmauld Place tomorrow?”

She was surprised and relieved by his abrupt change of subject. “We’re expected there at seven, my mum said,” she murmured.

“Marvellous,” he said cheerfully, “and we already have the present. Shall we finish the letters and then turn in?”

She nodded softly, but didn’t reply out loud.

***

They finished all the letters except for _that_ one. Lily tucked it away into the bag where she was going to put the ones that she wouldn’t be able to finish the following day and thus had to take with her to the seaside. She hoped there wouldn’t be too many, but she suspected that on Friday she wasn’t going to have lots done, especially because they had the party in the evening and then they’d have to go to bed early to wake up early on Saturday morning.

Hugo was a great help: he was enthusiastic, he encouraged her to go on when she wanted to just go to bed, and reminded her that they were going to be on holiday that weekend.

She couldn’t have finished them without him.

On Friday, Lily found seven more letters, and she went straight home to try to reply to them all before that evening. They weren’t that complicated this time around, but the fact that Hugo came home to help her during his lunch break was unexpected and just plain lovely.

She fretted that he would ask again about the letter that she didn’t want to talk about, but he didn’t. He ignored it completely, even when she knew that he was surely thinking about it just as much as she was.

He went back to the stadium once they finished, and Lily took her time napping and getting ready for the evening. It was only when she remembered that she had the party to attend, and then she had to go to bed early afterwards, that she packed her bag for the weekend.

Hugo arrived at home at six, and he managed to do everything that Lily had done in a whole afternoon in just under one hour. He didn’t take a nap, though.

At ten to seven, he was waiting for her in the living room, looking dashing in his freshly laundered shirt and black trousers. He was even more tanned than usual and his blue eyes seemed to shine on his face.

He smiled at her when she walked in there in a white dress and pumps, her father’s present in her hands. “You look very pretty,” he said brightly.

She smiled. “Thank you. You do too.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Just pretty? Don’t I look gorgeous?” He stood up and struck a pose like those Quidditch players on the calendars. He made a face as if he was focusing hard to flex all his muscles, the result being a weird mixture of sexiness and silliness.

She rolled her eyes, but grinned. “You look gorgeous,” she said. “When is your photoshoot coming out on Witch Weekly?”

He let his muscles relax and took a deep breath before pouting at her. “Laugh all you want,” he said, “but when my photoshoot comes out for real I won’t sign it for you.”

She stuck out her tongue at him, and then glanced at the Grandfather Clock. “Shall we go? We have to be there before my dad arrives, so that we can hide and then come up from behind the furniture.”

He walked to the fireplace and grabbed their jar of Floo Powder. “He’s not going to be really surprised, though, is he?” he asked, offering her the powder.

“Nah,” replied Lily. “I’m sure he’s going to fake it, we’ve never missed one of his birthdays ever since I can remember. He knows we’re onto something, and the fact that none of his children had called him to wish him happy birthday is certainly suspicious…”

Hugo grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder too. “He’s Head Auror,” he said. “He’s good.”

They entered the hearth one at a time, said out loud, “12 Grimmauld Place,” and then disappeared amongst green flames.

At her parents’ house, people were already busy whispering aloud and hiding presents and laying out sandwiches and drinks. Her mother was pushing a sofa towards the wall, Auntie Hermione was helping her moving it, and both seemed to have forgotten that they owned a wand.

“Hey,” said Lily. “I’ve got Dad’s present, where—”

“The table,” gasped her mother, face turning red for the effort. “There.”

Lily looked towards the corner where she was nodding. “What table?”

“This table,” said Albus quickly, raising a side of the Invisibility Cloak. Underneath, there was a pile of presents and Lily placed hers on top of the others.

“Where’s Dad?” she asked.

“Still at work, with James,” replied Albus. “He has to keep him there until a quarter past.” He passed Lily a tray filled with macaroons. “On the coffee table,” he ordered her distractedly.

She complied quickly. “Who’s here?” she asked him.

“Us, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, Rose and I bet Hugo is here too, now,” he said, glancing at her.

Lily nodded.

“And Teddy and Victoire can’t make it, but they send all their love and a present,” he went on. “The others will come later, just for a quick hello, apparently, because something’s happening tomorrow that Mum won’t tell us about.” He looked at her and grinned. “But probably I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”

She pressed her lips together to suppress a smug grin. “I already know, Al, thank you very much.”

He looked at her rather surprised and then suddenly crossed, and Lily felt suddenly aware that she had said too much. Oh well, he would have known in a bit anyway.

“I just know that they’re doing something for Dad’s birthday,” she added curtly. “But I don’t know what.”

He nodded. “Me neither,” he said. “Alright, where’s your boyfriend?”

She rolled her eyes and snorted. “I don’t have one.”

Albus cocked an eyebrow at her. “It was a joke. I meant Hugo, but I thought you’d say that you hadn’t invited Derek.” He gave her a very big brother-ish look. “Because you two seemed awfully close at Rose’s party.”

She blushed and tried to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, only to remember that her hair was gathered up in a messy bun. “Yeah, but we’re not together-together, you know…”

Albus nodded knowingly, as if he had had plenty of not together-together relationships. “I see,” he said. “You like him, but you’re not sure he is the right one, right?”

She looked up at him, he was being wise and nice, and Lily felt rather suspicious all of a sudden. “I think any girl would be lucky to have him,” she said. “But I don’t know what I feel for him yet.”

“Oh bloody hell! Are you talking relationships with your brother?”

Lily gasped and inhaled a generous amount of red curls as Rose hugged her.

“That’s weird,” she whispered in Lily’s ear. When she tilted her head back, she was smiling, though. “How’s Derek?”

“He’s fine,” she replied. “He thinks the party was fun.”

“He’s so nice,” chirped Rose, smiling brightly. “I think we should double date once, what do you think?”

Lily swallowed softly. “I don’t know, Rosie.”

“They are not together-together, Rose,” said Albus seriously. “You have to let her figure it out first.”

“Thank you, Al,” said Lily, glancing at him askew. “Why are you—oh! Right, Dad’s birthday.” She patted her forehead theatrically. “Completely forgot about the pact of nonaggression on Dad’s birthday Mum made us sign when I was five.”

Rose giggled. “Right, I forgot about that too.” She looked from Albus to Lily. “It’s always weird to see you two getting along for a day.”

Albus grinned before stretching his arms to pull Lily to his chest. He squeezed her until she squealed. “Hmm, yes, today is the day that I have a favourite sister.”

“I’m your only sister,” she gasped, pushing on his chest.

“Only and favourite,” he replied, attacking her head with kisses and squeezing her even more strongly.

“Al!” she gasped. “Let me… go… you’re messing up my hair!”

He let her go all of a sudden, but it wasn’t because she had asked him. Rose steadied her as she fanned her flushed face.

“Oi, Hugo,” grinned Albus. “You good? How’s Quidditch?”

“Hey, Al,” he grinned back. “All’s well, thanks. Quidditch is good. It gets more and more difficult with every week of training, but it’s—”

Lily, who threw her arms around Hugo’s chest and hugged him tightly, cut him off mid-sentence. “Hugo,” she said. “Hex Al for me, please. He was messing up my hair.” She hid her head in his chest, even as Rose and Albus started to laugh.

Hugo chuckled too, she could hear the movement against her cheek, and hugged her back, but then there was a hushed cry of, “They’re coming!” and people scurried about while her mother turned off the lights.

“Oh damn it,” muttered Lily as she stretched her arms to find somewhere where to hide.

Hugo’s big hand closed around her wrist and she was gently tugged forward, and then down, until her knees brushed against the back of the sofa. He pulled her towards him and whispered, “I’ll hex him later,” and then chuckled in his throat when her father’s voice could be heard in the kitchen.

“Honestly, James,” he was saying. “I’m tired, I just want to take a—”

“This’ll take just a minute, Dad. I need to ask you something about that criminal we caught last week.”

“We were at the Ministry until now; you couldn’t have asked me then?” His voice was calm though, as if he knew perfectly well what was going to happen.

Their steps got closer as they entered the room, but Lily was distracted by Hugo’s hand. His fingers were drawing circles on her arm and, even though it was silly of her to say, she felt as if he was smiling at her in the darkness.

She smiled back, but then the lights went on again and they all jumped up, screaming, “Surprise!” and then laughed at the face her father made. So blatantly unsurprised that it was too comical for them to get annoyed that it hadn’t worked.

“Oh Merlin!” he exclaimed, eyes bulging and mouth equally as wide. “What a surprise, guys! I didn’t expect a party? For me? Oh my!”

Luckily, her mother made her way to him and hugged him tightly. “Shut up,” she mumbled before kissing him. “Happy birthday, Harry.”

“Gross, Mum,” complained James only half-heartedly.

There was laughter and then they all queued not so neatly to wish him a very happy birthday. Lily jumped at his neck, and his father complained that he was too old for that, but he hugged her back and made her twirl as he thanked her and she kissed his cheeks forty-six times.

Presents were unveiled soon after, and then there was food and drinks and finally her mother called for a bit of silence and gave him her present.

Now, that was a surprised look right there.

“Italy?” he asked, eyes genuinely wide now and lips parted. “Are you serious?”

Her mother nodded, the brightest smile on her lips. “Yes,” she replied. “I’ve already packed your stuff and talked to Kingsley. I booked a Portkey from Percy and we’re leaving first thing in the morning.”

Lily looked at them from behind a glass a pumpkin juice, smiling as her dad studied the programme for their holiday. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione crowded around them and they nodded at every excited comment her father made, and kept repeating how lucky they were.

As she stared at them, an elbow burrowed into Lily’s ribs. “I heard that my mum asked you and Hugo to go to Penzance with them,” whispered Rose.

Lily turned to look at her and smiled, nodding. “Yeah, but we can’t tell Al and James, otherwise they’ll be two jealous big babies.”

Rose nodded conspiratorially. “Excited? Penzance is a nice, little place,” she said. “I wish I didn’t have to work. Have you ever been?”

Lily shook her head.

“We used to go there for weekends when we were little,” she replied. “Ask Hugo to take you to St Michael’s Mount. You can Apparate there. There’s a quaint harbour and a nice restaurant and if you go there during the low tide you can walk on the causeway and all the way to the mount.”

Lily glanced at Hugo, busy chatting with Albus and James on the other side of the room. She couldn’t believe that they’d be leaving for Cornwall in a matters of hours. She was well excited.

“It’s a bit on the romantic side,” admitted Rose quietly. “But you can use it as a rehearsal for when you take Derek.” She smiled brightly. “And when Hugo takes Marie. What do you think about her, by the way?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder and took a sip of pumpkin juice, trying to take some time before replying. “She’s nice,” she finally said, “pretty, and rich. Hugo is lucky.”

“She’s very chatty too,” said Rose calmly. “Is she good at Quidditch? Do you think she’ll get picked?”

Lily wanted to lie, but somehow she couldn’t. “Yeah.”

“And Hugo?”

Lily’s dreamy sigh was unexpected apparently, because Rose cocked an eyebrow at her. “Yeah,” murmured Lily. “He’s really good. Like… He’s been my captain at Hogwarts for three years, but… it’s like he held back while at school. Now, he’s playing for real.”

Rose smiled. “I should go and see him training,” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe when I’m back from my holiday…”

“Greece, right?” asked Lily, smiling back. “Are you excited?”

Rose nodded enthusiastically. “I can’t wait,” she admitted. “Sea, beaches, Scorpius. It’s going to be wonderful.”

“Where’s Scorpius, by the way? Did my mum forbid you to bring him?” she giggled.

“I think she tried,” admitted Rose with a giggle. “She said it was ‘a very small get-together’. But Scorpius had to attend a family dinner anyway tonight, and I have to admit that I was ecstatic that I couldn’t go to the Manor with him.” She grinned. “He was less so. Oh well, we’ll be together for two weeks starting Monday, and he’ll get over it.”

Lily nodded and cocked her head as she stared at her cousin sipping a Butterbeer. She looked blissful, as if she had already found all the happiness that she needed to find, and that would last her for a lifetime. It was such a beautiful and poetic thought that Lily was a bit horrified to suddenly find herself wondering if Rose and Scorpius had ever had anal sex at all, and what would Rose think if she just introduced the subject like that. Where did that thought come from?

She shook her head and lowered her eyes, obviously she couldn’t ask her. Rose would ask her what was wrong with her. Either that, or she would just call her a nosy pervert and never talk to her again.

She raised her eyes again and glanced at Hugo. He was still talking to Albus and James. Why did her brothers have to be that fond of him? Why did she want him to come and sit with her? Of course, she just wanted to ask him if she could ask Rose about her sexual experiences. Of course, she knew that he would forbid her altogether.

“Are you okay?” asked Rose all of a sudden. “You seem lost in thought.”

Lily looked away from Hugo. “Yes, yes, I’m okay,” she replied hastily. “But I think I better go home. I have to wake up early tomorrow. The Portkey activates at eight at your parents’ and that means a seven o’clock wakeup call from your brother.”

Rose grinned. “Seven o’clock is not that early,” she pointed out. “There’s worse.”

Lily nodded. “I know, but it’s stupidly early for me. Hugo instead usually wakes up at half past five, he’ll be fine.”

“I hope he’s not going to wake up early on Sunday morning and wake you up,” she said. “You’re sharing a room, aren’t you? Just tell him to get lost if he insist you do something silly like waking up to see the sun rising on the sea.”

Lily’s eyes widened. “Oh Merlin,” she muttered. “If he does that, I’m going to hex him.”

“You’re going to hex who?” asked James as he perched over the back of the sofa. “Is it Derek? Do you need help with the hexing? What did he do?”

Lily waved a hand in front of him. “It’s not Derek,” she muttered, “and quit being the perfect big brother, Dad can’t hear you anyway.”

“You hurt me, little sister,” he said, bringing a hand to his heart. “But seriously, though, I’d hex anybody who’d make you suffer, even if it wasn’t Dad’s birthday.”

Lily expected him to say that it was a joke, or waited for him to mess up her hair even more than Albus had done, but when she looked up, he was looking down at her with a serious expression over his face.

She smiled softly at him. “Thank you.”

“So, who do you have to hex?” he asked again.

Lily glanced at Rose and shrugged a shoulder. “Hugo, in case he has the brilliant idea of waking me up on Sunday morning to go and see the sun raising on the sea,” she replied. “Oh yes, because we’re going to the beach with Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron tomorrow morning.” She looked at him and smiled. “Not jealous, are you?”

“What? Wait a second, why wouldn’t they ask Rose to go with them?” asked James, taken aback.

“They did, but Scorpius and I can’t go,” replied Rose. “So they asked Lily and her flatmate, also known as their son, and the two of them are going.”

James’ face darkened all of a sudden, then he strode away and towards Aunt Hermione.

Lily and Rose heard him mutter a sarcastic, “Thank you, Auntie!” before he was off to get himself more Butterbeer.

Aunt Hermione looked at him surprised for just a second before turning her gaze upon Lily and Rose and scowling them as they giggled.

“I should really go home now,” said Lily, yawning. “Otherwise I’ll never get up tomorrow morning.” She stood from the sofa and went to say goodbye to her parents, wished her father happy birthday again, told him about her weekend in Penzance and said that she had to get at least a few hours of sleep otherwise she’d miss the Portkey.

“Have you told them about next Saturday?” Hugo whispered in her ear as she was asking Aunt Hermione for how long the Portkey would be active.

She blinked and half-turned towards him. “Next Saturday?”

“What’s happening next Saturday?” asked her mother, looking from him to her.

She furrowed her brow, but Hugo just chuckled. “We wanted to invite you over for dinner,” he said. “All four of you.” He looked from her parents to his. “Just to hear everything about the trip and… you know, to show you what good flatmates we are.”

Lily nodded. She had completely forgotten about that. But of course, she had moved Derek’s date to Friday because she was busy that Saturday. She looked at them and nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “You’re going to be tired because of the trip, and surely you’re not going to cook in the evening, so instead of going out, you should come to ours.”

“You’re going to cook, Lily?” asked her father with a grin.

“We both are, Uncle Harry,” said Hugo, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I will personally make sure that nobody is poisoned that night.”

There was laughter following that, but Lily just glared up at him half-heartedly. He winked back at her, and she shook her head.

“I’m going home,” she told him, yawning again. “I need to sleep. Tomorrow we’re waking up at such an ungodly hour.”

“I’ll come with.”

“You don’t have to,” she replied. “You can stay. I’ll be home in a second with the Floo.”

“I’m tired too,” he said, forcing out a yawn. “I’ll say goodnight and be right there if you wait for me.”

She smiled and nodded, and ten minutes later, they were gone.


	19. Chapter 19

***

Aunt Hermione was fretting around her tiny suitcase when a very sleepy Lily and an incredibly cheerful Hugo stepped out of the fireplace in their living room. She started when she saw them, but then smiled straight away. “Oh, you’re beautifully on time, guys,” she said, going to kiss them both.

“Lily woke me up, Mum,” said Hugo, patting Lily’s shoulder as he went to place their luggage near his parents’. “She couldn’t wait to get here.”

Lily smiled weakly at Aunt Hermione. “He’s joking,” she yawned. “He woke me up ten minutes ago. I didn’t even take a shower.” She hunched her shoulders a little. “I smell, Auntie.”

“Hmm, I was wondering what that perfume was,” chuckled Uncle Ron as he walked into the living room. “Let me see.” He went to stand in front of Lily and inhaled sharply. “Yes, it’s my charming niece.”

Lily folded her arms across her chest and looked up at him with a fake annoyed expression over her face.

He laughed and hugged her tightly to his chest. “Just joking, pumpkin,” he said. “You smell like a proper Weasley.”

“Not sure that’s a compliment, Ron,” said Aunt Hermione with a grin. “Alright, do we have everything? Have you checked the list, Ron? Hugo, did you make a list?”

“Of course, Mum,” he replied, as if it was completely normal to have a list of the things that one would bring on holiday.

“I don’t have a list,” said Lily softly, looking from Hugo to Aunt Hermione.

“That’s fine, I don’t either,” chuckled Uncle Ron.

“That’s because I have a list for both of us, Ron,” said Aunt Hermione as she closed her suitcase. “And that’s absolutely fine, Lily. We’re staying away for just two days; I don’t think you’ll be able to forget something.”

Lily nodded. “Have I already said thank you for inviting me?”

“A gazillion times,” said Uncle Ron. “Or so I’m told.” He smiled at her. “But it’s our pleasure, Lils. It’ll be like being on holiday with the whole family once again.”

“Something that hadn’t happened only since last Christmas, Dad,” pointed out Hugo, grinning.

Uncle Ron cocked an eyebrow. “Well, I’m sure it won’t happen again for quite a while. What with both my children being legal adults and having a job now. Soon you won’t want to come on holiday with us anymore especially if you can go with your friends instead.”

“I’ll always come with you, Uncle Ron,” grinned Lily. “As long as you pay for me.”

“You little…” He grabbed her and started to tickle her mercilessly, as if she was a child again.

She gasped and tried to fend off his attack, but Uncle Ron dug his fingers in her sides causing a mix of pain and a tickling sensation that took her breath away.

“Ron,” called Aunt Hermione over Lily’s squeals. “The Portkey is about to activate.”

Uncle Ron let Lily go and she laughed and ran over to Aunt Hermione, hiding behind her, just like she used to do when she was little.

Hugo shook his head and looked at her. “Children,” he quipped. “We’re going on holiday with two children, Mum.”

Aunt Hermione could only nod, and then sigh when Uncle Ron made his way to Hugo and asked, “Who did you call a child?” and started to tickle him too.

“Dad! Dad, honestly!” he laughed but was much better than Lily at defending himself.

“Ron, is that what it’s going to be like for two days?” sighed Aunt Hermione as the two men fought and laughed. She wrapped an arm around Lily’s shoulders and smiled. “We’ll leave them behind and do some shopping, Lils.”

Lily nodded ecstatic. “Wicked,” she said.

“Alright, let’s get ready,” said Aunt Hermione as she clapped her hands. “Come on, guys. You’ll play later. Come on. Come here.”

Uncle Ron pushed Hugo onto the sofa and, laughing, made his way towards the suitcases and backpacks that they had piled near the fireplace. Hugo jumped up and went to stand next to his father, pushing him jokingly.

Lily joined them. “That’s mine,” she said to Hugo as he grabbed her little trolley.

He smiled gently at her. “I know,” he replied before going towards the centre of the room. “What’s the Portkey again, Mum?”

“This,” she said, producing a life buoy from behind the sofa. “Very fitting, I’d say.”

Uncle Ron nodded. “It’s almost as if Percy has acquired a sense of humour of which I was not aware.”

“Oh Ron,” said Aunt Hermione. “He can be fun.” She paused for a second, and added, “Every now and then.”

Uncle Ron snorted and Lily snickered as they stood all around the life buoy.

“Alright,” said Aunt Hermione. “We can touch it.” They all placed a hand on it, while Aunt Hermione checked the time on the Grandfather Clock. “And in three, two, one!”

Lily felt the strong pull of the Portkey deep in her stomach. She closed her eyes as she was sucked into the mean of transportation along with the others. She gritted her teeth and braced herself for the uncomfortable landing, but it never came. Instead, an arm wrapped around her middle and she floated gracefully to the ground.

When she opened her eyes, all four of them were standing in a beautiful, little backyard surrounded with a high fence.

Aunt Hermione had a hand over her stomach. “Oh Merlin,” she complained. “It always makes me nauseous.”

Uncle Ron smiled reassuringly at her. “It’ll go away in a second, Hermione.” He looked at the pretty veranda covered in flowers. “How do we get in?”

“Key,” said Aunt Hermione. She sat on a garden chair, took a brass key out of her bag and handed it to Uncle Ron.

Lily looked up at Hugo, whose arm was still wrapped around her. “You okay?” he asked before she could talk.

“Yes,” she replied softly. “Thank you, it’s the first time I don’t just crash to the ground.”

He winked at her and finally unwrapped his arm from around her, his hand slowly sliding on her stomach and her hip as he did.

“Oh, this is nice,” said Uncle Ron from inside the house. “Lovely, lovely. Absolutely lovely.”

Aunt Hermione stood from the chair with renewed force and curiosity and followed her husband inside. Lily was quick to join them and Hugo was right behind her.

There was a rustic kitchen with an Aga that had Aunt Hermione going almost insane with happiness. The long dinner table was carved out of a single piece of wood, and the chairs looked old. The window in the cosy sitting room overlooked the front garden and the sea could be seen beyond a small thicket. Down the hall, there was also a stocked pantry and a little toilet.

The stairs that led upstairs were small and Hugo and Uncle Ron kept bumping the suitcases and backpacks into the walls, leaving black marks that Aunt Hermione hurried to clean with her wand.

On the first floor, there was the master bedroom with a big, four-poster bed and a beautiful view of the sea, a nicely sized bathroom with a shower and a tub, and another smaller bedroom with a queen size bed and a massive wardrobe.

“Oh,” was all Lily could say when she walked in there.

Hugo stopped on the door and stared at the bed, then cleared his voice. “I suspect that my parents thought it would be a twin room,” he said, as he placed their luggage to the floor. “Otherwise they would have never invited Rose and Scorpius together,” he added with a chuckle.

Lily sat on the bed, it was soft and the bedspread felt silky under her legs. “Shall we tell your parents?” she asked softly.

He grinned as he sat next to her. “I don’t mind,” he said. “It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed already.”

Lily shook her head and smiled. “I misspoke,” she said. “I meant shall we tell your parents and pretend we mind?”

“What for?” he asked, lying back. “It’s not like we’re going to do something.” He paused. “You don’t have letters to reply to. Right?” he asked, his voice throaty.

“Of course not,” replied Lily, without turning to look at him. She bit her bottom lip as she felt his hand on the small of her back. His thumb drew lazy circles under her top.

“Good,” he whispered. “Because you’re loud.”

She snorted, but leant into the touch. “You’re louder.”

“Oh my!” exclaimed Aunt Hermione as she appeared on the door. “Oh Merlin! Ron! I can’t believe it!”

“We weren’t doing anything!” exclaimed Lily, jumping up.

Aunt Hermione looked at her. “Oh, I know. Oh Ron! Would you look at this room?”

Uncle Ron appeared on the door and stared at the bed, a bit taken aback. “Oh,” he said. “Now I’m glad that Scorpius and Rose couldn’t make it.”

“I was so sure it was a twin room,” said Aunt Hermione as Hugo pushed himself up. “Shall we… can we divide the bed?”

“It’s one big one,” said Hugo, even though Lily was sure that he hadn’t even checked. “But it’s fine, Mum.” He waved a hand and stood up. “It’s so big; we won’t even bump into each other.”

His mother looked sternly at him. “But that’s not very proper,” she said curtly. “Maybe I should sleep with Lily, and Hugo should bunk in with you, Ron.”

There was a chorus of protests, the loudest ones coming from Uncle Ron.

“They’re going to be more than fine, Hermione,” he growled. “What on earth do you think is going to happen?”

Hermione looked at him just as sternly as she had looked at her son. “I don’t think anything is going to happen,” she said, “but maybe Lily doesn’t want to sleep with Hugo.”

“I don’t mind, Auntie Hermione,” said Lily sweetly. “It’s going to be fun, like when we were little and slept all together at the Burrow.”

Aunt Hermione bit into her bottom lip. “Are you sure?” she asked to nobody in particular.

Everybody replied a very forceful “yes” and Aunt Hermione just sighed and let the subject drop.

***

They changed into their beachwear, and finally made their way to The Witch at the Sea, a tiny Wizarding bar with round tables right on the promenade that skirted the beach.

The beach itself was much better than Lily had expected. Soft, white sand, many young people already playing at some beach sport, and transparent sea. It had really nothing to envy to France.

Uncle Ron opened the Prophet and sat back into the white chair as they waited for their breakfast to arrive. Aunt Hermione was already spreading sun cream on her arms.

“It’s such a nice day,” said Lily, looking at the sea. “And such a nice place. I didn’t know Cornwall could be this beautiful.”

“It is,” said Hugo. “I can take you snorkelling near Battery Rocks Beach if you want to, later. It’s gorgeous and you can see many kinds of fish.”

Breakfast was finally brought to the table, and Lily attacked her milk bread and cream cheese with hunger before sipping from her cappuccino. “I was starving,” she admitted, chewing noisily. “And I’d love to go snorkelling with you, but I’ve never done it, is it difficult?”

Hugo dunked his brioche into his tea. “Nah,” he replied calmly. “Mum brought Rose’s stuff for you, you just follow me.”

“Yes, but Hugo,” said Aunt Hermione, spreading jam on her toast. “If she’s never been snorkelling, you pay extra attention, okay? Stay close to her.”

Uncle Ron closed the Prophet and sighed. “Hermione, my love,” he said, “calm down, will you? We’re on holiday, we’re here to relax. Nothing’s going to happen to Lily or Hugo.”

Aunt Hermione pressed her lips together, but didn’t reply, and they spent the rest of their breakfast chatting about what a lovely weekend that looked to be. Uncle Ron insisted to buy and they finally made their way to the beach.

They chose a spot not too close to the sea, because apparently the width of the beach was greatly influenced by the tides. They didn’t want to find themselves deep into the water while they were sunbathing.

Uncle Ron and Hugo drove the beach umbrella into the sand, while Aunt Hermione and Lily opened the low beach chairs and spread towels on them. When everything was ready, they finally divested of their t-shirts and dresses, more than ready to either lie down and sunbathe or play some sport.

Lily grabbed the edges of her white dress and brought it up over her head, she crumpled it up in a tiny ball and pushed it in her beach bag to keep it safe from the sand.

“Lily, come here, darling, I’ll spread the sun cream on you,” said Aunt Hermione as she searched for the bottle in her own bag.

“Excuse me,” said Uncle Ron, his voice serious all of a sudden. “Does that look like a swimsuit? Where’re the missing parts?”

Lily took a minute to understand that he was talking to her, but when she looked at him, he was looking very seriously back at her. She lowered her eyes on her – perfectly fine and surely-it-would-be-but-she-never-bothered-to-ask mother approved – white bikini. Lily glanced back up at him, grinning. “Uncle Ron!” she giggled. “It’s a bikini!”

She glanced at Hugo and saw that he was looking at her, too; he was biting his bottom lip, though, not looking disapprovingly in the least.

“Yeah, well, that’s not… that’s not how a redhead girl should dress at the beach,” he grunted.

Lily glanced at Aunt Hermione, who just shook her head and smiled amused.

“What?” asked Lily, furrowing her brow.

“Your skin,” continued Uncle Ron, a look of concentration on his face. “Your skin is super delicate, especially on your tummy. That’s… it’s not healthy to sunbathe like that. You need to wear a one piece. Let’s go, I’ll escort you back to the cottage, where you can change.”

“Dad!” groaned Hugo, looking almost embarrassed.

“She’s going to be fine, Ron,” said Aunt Hermione, standing up and finally starting to squirt sun cream on Lily’s shoulders and spreading it. “You two need to spread some, too.”

“She’s not going to be fine, Hermione,” said Uncle Ron. “What will Harry and Ginny say if we bring her back and she’s turned into a tomato?”

“Ron, my love, calm down, will you? We’re on holiday, we’re here to relax. Nothing’s going to happen to Lily or Hugo.” Aunt Hermione looked very pleased with herself as she smirked at her husband. “Is this one of the bikinis that you bought in France, Lily? It’s very pretty.”

“It is, thank you, Auntie.” She moved her hair to the front while Aunt Hermione spread the sun cream on her back. “Exactly,” she said, suddenly looking at Uncle Ron. “I wore this with Uncle Bill and he said it was fine. Dom wore one too.” She stuck out her tongue at her uncle. “You’re more close-minded than Uncle Bill, Uncle Ron.”

That seemed to make Uncle Ron shut up. His face darkened even more and he grunted something that nobody seemed to understand. “Let’s go,” he finally said to Hugo, fishing out beach rackets and a ball from Aunt Hermione’s beach bag.

“Hold on,” said Aunt Hermione sternly. “Spread some cream, you two, I don’t want to have to bring you to St Mungo’s tomorrow night because you’ve burst into flames.”

Lily giggled. Uncle Ron glared at her. Hugo grabbed the sun cream.

When Aunt Hermione was done with her, Lily repaid the favour. When they were both covered from head to toe into the cream, they lay down onto the beach chairs and looked as Uncle Ron and Hugo made their way towards the sea.

“If it’s too cold, don’t get inside,” called Aunt Hermione. “You’ve just had breakfast.”

The two men didn’t even turn to acknowledge her and Aunt Hermione sighed before closing her eyes and relaxing. Lily put on her big sunglasses and relaxed too, letting the sounds of the beach blend in the background as she dozed off.

She basked in the sun, without thinking about anything or anybody, until Aunt Hermione shuffled onto her stomach and told her to do it, too. “Uncle Ron was right, you know,” she said gently. “Your tummy does get red pretty quickly if you don’t pay attention.”

Lily flipped over too, untying her bikini not to let any lines come in the middle of her tan. “Auntie Hermione,” she said sleepily.

“Hmm?” replied her aunt, not even glancing up from the book she was now reading.

“Rose said something about St Michael’s Mount,” she said, leaning her head on her arms. “That Hugo could take me there or something.”

Aunt Hermione smiled as she finally looked at her. “Oh, it’s a lovely place,” she admitted. “It used to be a monastery; now there’s a castle, a tiny village and a beautiful garden that can be visited.” She paused to think and then added, “And there should be a Wizarding restaurant and a club too, but I’ve been there either with my parents or with the children when they were still little, we’ve never stayed for dinner.”

Lily nodded and burrowed her toes into the sand. “And do you think Hugo and I can go?”

Aunt Hermione seemed to think about it before she replied, “Well, we’ve booked a restaurant for tonight. But we can change the reservation if you’d rather go and do something else.”

“Oh no, Auntie, it’s okay,” she replied with a smile. “I’m sure the restaurant is going to be awesome. And maybe Hugo and I can visit it this afternoon?”

“Hmm, what about shopping?” she asked. “Shall we go tomorrow?”

Lily considered her words attentively. “I don’t know,” she replied slowly. “Maybe we should do some shopping today and we can go to the mount tomorrow?” She closed her eyes, trying to understand if her suggestion was intelligent enough. Her thinking was suddenly interrupted when something cold and wet dropped on her back, making her shiver.

“You are cooked to a turn,” grinned Hugo. “Want to come into the water?”

Lily turned her head towards him. “Is it nice? It’s not too cold, is it?”

“Perfect,” he replied. “Shall we go snorkelling?”

Uncle Ron threw the rackets in the sand and sat on the beach chair near Aunt Hermione. “Did he beat you?” she asked him calmly.

“He trashed me,” he grunted. “I didn’t stand a chance.”

Aunt Hermione shivered as he leant back against her side. “You’re cold, Ron,” she complained. “Sit in the sun and warm up a little.”

Lily searched for the strings of her bikini at her sides, but grunted when she wasn’t able to tie them up on her back. Hugo took over before she even had to ask, and tied it tightly on her spine.

“Thank you,” she said, as Hugo helped her standing up.

“Before you go,” said Aunt Hermione. “Hugo, you’ve been to St Michael’s Mount, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, that one year I went with the guys,” he replied, as he fished out masks and fins from his parents’ beach bag. “Why?”

“Rose suggested that you’d take Lily,” said Aunt Hermione, “and I think it’s a wonderful idea. It’s a lovely place and it might be interesting, but we were wondering when it would be best for you two to go.”

Hugo handed Rose’s mask and fins to Lily. “Tonight,” he said cheerfully. “Then we can eat at the restaurant and go to the club.”

“And will you manage to be back by ten, I wonder…”

“Dad!” sighed Hugo. “We’re of age. Both of us.”

“But tonight is not good,” said Lily. “Your parents have booked a restaurant already.”

“Are you kidding me?” snorted Uncle Ron. “Go, let us have our romantic dinner. Just remember to be back by ten.”

Lily grinned at him. “Really? I mean, really we can go? You’re not going to miss us too much, Uncle Ronnie?”

He scowled her, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he took out the Prophet again and opened it to continue reading.

“Shall we go?” Hugo asked Lily.

She nodded eagerly, smiling as they told his parents that they would see them in a bit. They turned towards the sea and made their way to the water.

“Do you want to walk there or to swim?” he asked her as they stepped on the hot sand.

“I don’t know, what’s nicer?” she asked, looking up at him.

“We can walk for a bit, and then get into the water and swim the rest of the way there,” he said. “What do you think?”

“Sounds good to me,” she replied, nodding. “So we’re going to St Michael’s Mount, tonight. I can’t wait. Rose and your mum both said that it’s lovely.”

“We should go this afternoon, too,” he suggested as he stopped to pick up a shell. “We can visit the castle and the garden around it.” He handed her the shell. “For you.”

She looked at it; it was a little scorpion shell with white and red stripes. It was pretty. “Thank you,” she said. “I have no clue where to put it though.”

Hugo just chuckled and kept on walking. “So shall we go after lunch?”

She shook her head forcefully. “No, I can’t go after lunch, I’m otherwise engaged.”

“Doing what?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow as he looked at her.

“Shopping with your mum,” she grinned. “Apparently, your dad’s offering.”

“You can go shopping in Diagon Alley every day of your life,” he complained, rolling his eyes. “Do you really need to go shopping here, too?”

“Yes, I need something for tonight,” she replied defensibly.

“You’ve got plenty of dresses,” he pointed out.

She grabbed his wrist and made him stop. “Oh come on, Hugo,” she pouted. “I just want a nice dress to go to St Michael’s Mount with my favourite person in the world.” She smiled up at him. “Pretty please?”

He looked down at her and sighed, but he seemed mollified. “Alright, but can you please not take the whole afternoon? I’d love to—ouch!”

Lily started as a beach ball hit Hugo’s upper arm rather roughly. “Are you okay?” she asked as he rubbed the offended spot.

“Yeah,” he growled.

She turned just in time to see a young man running towards them, and she put on her most severe expression. “Hey, can’t you—”

“Sorry, man! We missed—Hugo?”

Hugo looked at the blond guy who had picked up the ball. “Daniel?”

“Hey man!” The guy threw himself at Hugo, hugging him forcefully, and Hugo’s mask and fins fell on the sand as he hugged him back.

“It’s good to see you!” Hugo said with a grin.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” he replied. “Wicked, man!” He finally turned towards Lily, who had been standing there without fully known what to do. “Hey, you’re not Rose,” said Daniel cheerfully. Then his eyes widened as he looked back at Hugo. “Whoa, is she…? Are you…?”

Lily blinked, unsure of what he was asking and what she had to reply to him.

It didn’t matter, because at that moment the young man wrapped an arm around Hugo’s neck and brought his head closer to his as he looked at Lily. “She’s hot, mate,” he whispered out loud, winking at Lily and grinning. “Wow. Congratulations.”

Lily felt her cheeks burn, she opened her mouth to set the record straight, but Hugo beat her to it.

“Yeah, I know,” he said unexpectedly. “She’s beautiful. I’m a lucky man.”

Lily looked at him, surprised, but he bit down on his bottom lip and raised his eyebrows imperceptibly to ask her to play along.

Lily looked back at Daniel and smiled awkwardly. “I’m lucky too,” she said. “Hi, I’m Lily.”

Daniel let Hugo go. “What a pretty name,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it gently. “Hey, when you dump this one here, I live just down the beach, okay?”

“Hey,” grunted Hugo, looking supremely unimpressed. He strode towards Lily and wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders. “She’s not going to dump me any time soon.”

Daniel laughed at that. “Alright,” he said. “How long are you staying?”

“Just today and tomorrow,” replied Hugo. “We’re here for the weekend with my parents.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Holiday with the parents and the girl,” he said. “I’m impressed. It’s serious then.”

Lily leant her head on Hugo’s chest. “Pretty serious, yes,” she replied calmly.

Hugo’s hand squeezed her shoulder and he smiled.

“Wicked, do you want to join us tonight? We’re having a party on the beach,” said Daniel. “Come on, Hugo, I’m sure the guys would love to meet your squeeze.”

“I’m not his squeeze, I’m his girlfriend,” replied Lily indignantly, wrinkling her nose.

“She’s got fire, I like her,” said Daniel, laughing. “So, are you coming?”

“We’ve got other plans for tonight, Daniel,” replied Hugo, biting down on his bottom lip. “You know…”

“Oh,” he said, eyes wide. “Romantic dinner and then sex?” He chuckled. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Lily looked up at Hugo, waiting for him to reply with as much information as he wanted to share about their plans. “Yeah, kind of…” he muttered. He glanced down at Lily. “Maybe we can swing by after the romantic dinner,” he added thoughtfully.

“Yeah! And you can have sex here on the beach,” grinned Daniel. “Under the stars, near the bonfire… It’s very romantic.”

“No, thank you,” replied Lily promptly.

Daniel laughed again. “Alright, so we’ll wait for you?”

“If it’s not too late when we get back,” said Hugo seriously.

“Got it,” replied Daniel. “Same place, do you remember?”

Hugo nodded. “Cool.” They hugged again, then Daniel winked at Lily, and finally he was running away with the beach ball and towards a pretty girl who looked very annoyed to having had to wait for him.

When he started to play with the girl again, Hugo picked up his mask and fins, and looked at Lily. “Are you annoyed?” he asked softly.

“What for?”

They started walking again.

“Because I told him that you were my girlfriend,” he admitted.

“Nah. You owe me, though,” she grinned, shaking her head.

“Actually, I did it for you,” he said, turning to look at her. “To save you an inordinately amount of flirting from his part.” He swallowed. “He can be quite… pestering when he likes a girl.”

Lily cocked her head and stole a glance at that guy again. “You think he likes me?”

“Of course he does,” he snorted. “He was looking at you as if you were a piece of cake. Shall we get into the water?”

For a moment, she thought he suggested that because he didn’t want her to keep talking about his friend liking her. He helped her wearing Rose’s fins, then secured the mask around her wrist, and finally he helped her make her way into the water next to him.

She laughed as she raised a bunch of sand and rocks with her fins. “This is so difficult,” she said. “And I look like an idiot.”

“You look like someone wearing fins who’s trying to reach deeper waters.” Hugo smiled reassuringly. “And we’re almost there.”

They really were, finally Lily couldn’t touch anymore, not even with the fins. On the other hand, Hugo still could, and she grasped his shoulders and let him carry her as he made his way towards even deeper waters. When he finally couldn’t touch anymore, she let him go.

“That over there is Battery Rocks Beach,” he said, pointing towards a small, deserted beach with dark sand. “We swim to it and then we do a bit of snorkelling around. Is that okay?”

“Okay,” replied Lily, nodding. “And if I’m tired, you carry me?”

He grinned. “If you catch me…” he said, sprinting forward.

“Hugo!” she threw herself behind him, noticing how much faster than usual she could go with those fins at her feet. She also got tired sooner than she would have done without them, but she kept going for quite a while.

He slowed down and they swam one next to the other for a while, looking around themselves and pointing at boats and people doing windsurf off the coast.

When they reached the tiny beach, it was deserted, and Lily was more than happy to just drag herself onto the sand and lie on her stomach in silence until she could catch her breath. Hugo sat next to her, and even though she couldn’t see him, she knew he was grinning.

“It was lovely,” she murmured. “Thank you, now you can carry me back to my beach chair.”

“We haven’t even started,” he pointed out with a chuckle. “Catch your breath and then we can go snorkelling.”

“I’m too tired, Hugo,” she whinged softly.

“Snorkelling isn’t tiring while you do it, Lils,” he said calmly. “You’ll feel absolutely knackered tonight, but it’s going to be really pleasant. I promise.”

She groaned and sighed. In reply, he chuckled again and lay down next to her. “Plus, we can’t stay here too long,” he went on. “It’s almost midday, the sun is scorching hot, and we’re going to get sunburnt because part of the sun cream was washed away.”

“And then your dad will put me in a poncho for the rest of the weekend,” she groaned.

“Yeah, he’s a bit overprotective, isn’t he?” he laughed. He stretched a hand to her bikini bottom and brushed his fingers against the strings there. “I like your bikini,” he confessed softly.

“Thank you. And now we know who you take after, right?” grinned Lily.

He pouted and looked at her. “When would I be overprotective?” he asked sourly, withdrawing his hand.

“Always,” she murmured, stretching a hand to grab his wrist and place his fingers back on her side. “But I like it, so, keep doing it.”

“Listen,” he said, grinning as he slid his fingers on the small of her back to play with the beads of her spine. “We don’t have to go to the beach party tonight.”

She shrugged a shoulder, and involuntarily chafed her chest against the sand. “We can go just to say hi to your friends,” she replied. “Are they Muggles?”

“Some of them are,” he replied, “some others are wizards. Daniel is a wizard, and honestly if he asks you to go for a walk with him, or tries to get you alone, just run, okay?”

“I’m not leaving your side,” she pointed out, furrowing her brow. “And you’re scaring me.”

“Yeah, it’s just that when he’s a bit drunk he lets his hands wander a bit,” he said. “But he’s okay, I swear.”

She looked at him with her brow still furrowed before pushing her hands on the ground and turning to sit. His hand slid away and over her arse a little before he finally withdrew it.

“I was thinking something,” she started.

“What?” He pushed himself up into a sitting position, too.

“I wanted to ask Rose about her experience with anal,” she said, playing with the sand near her legs to keep her eyes away from him. “If she had any, she could help me with the letter.”

Hugo didn’t reply, and when she finally looked at him, she saw that he was staring at the sea.

“Did you hear me?” she asked him quietly.

He nodded. “Yeah,” he replied, voice choked. “Why didn’t you ask her last night?”

She sighed and covered her face with her hands. “I’m embarrassed,” she said. “And she’ll want to know why I want to know.”

“You can tell her you want to do it with Derek,” he said, his voice suddenly cold.

“That doesn’t make it any less embarrassing.”

He shrugged a shoulder and stood up. “Ready to do some snorkelling?” He stretched a hand towards her and she took it, knowing that the discussion was over and that he didn’t want to discuss it any further.

***

Lunch consisted of a very colourful salad with more ingredients than Lily had ever seen in a salad at all. Apart from the actual salad, there were tomatoes, sweetcorn, tuna, ham, little croutons, pieces of cheese, carrots, and many other things that Lily couldn’t recognise.

She thought it was delicious, but probably it was because she was starving after a solid hour of snorkelling around with Hugo.

He had been right, snorkelling was pleasant and she enjoyed it immensely. She saw fish that she had never seen before, and Hugo held her hand all the time, squeezing it to attract her attention and pointing to this or that plant or little scared animal.

When he dragged her to the surface and told her that they had to go back, she pouted and begged for five more minutes, just like a child. As a compromise, they snorkelled their way back to the main beach and when they got out of the water, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron had already left for the cottage.

It was a good thing, because lunch was already ready when they arrived, and all they had to do was take a shower and sit down at the table.

“Guys, masticate your food before you swallow,” said Aunt Hermione as the two of them were trying to devour the salad without even bothering to chew.

“Starving, Mum,” said Hugo. “We snorkelled our way around the whole bay.”

“It was awesome,” said Lily, nodding enthusiastically. “There were so many fish, and I even saw a starfish! A starfish! What are the odds, eh?”

“They’re very rare, especially here in England,” admitted Aunt Hermione. “So you had fun.” She smiled at them.

“Yes,” said Lily, nodding enthusiastically. “Now I’m ready to do some shopping, Auntie, but we can’t get back too late, because Hugo and I want to go to the castle for a bit this afternoon, and then the gardens—”

“She means St Michael’s.”

“Yeah, and then we’re going to a party on the beach tonight, but first we’re having dinner on the island and—”

“Party on the beach?” asked Uncle Ron, his ton stern. “What party on the beach?”

Hugo cleaned his mouth into the napkin and smiled. “I saw Daniel today,” he said. “He invited us to a party.”

Aunt Hermione’s face darkened slightly. “And you think you’re going?” she asked.

Lily looked from her aunt to Uncle Ron to Hugo; the atmosphere seemed suddenly much tenser than before.

“Just to say hi, maybe…” mumbled Hugo.

Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione glanced at each other. Then they looked back at Hugo. “You’re going to stay close to Lily all night,” said his father sternly. “Never, and I repeat, never leaving her alone with Daniel for one second.”

“Of course,” said Hugo meekly.

Lily furrowed her brow. “What… why?”

There were more glances and another pregnant pause before Aunt Hermione looked at her. “This Daniel,” she said slowly. “Hugo’s friend,” she added coldly. “He molested Rose a couple of years ago.”

Lily gasped; she pressed her hands over her mouth and widened her eyes. She had never heard that story. She was shocked, not only because she hadn’t been told, but also because one of Hugo’s friends would do that to his sister and still be considered a friend by him.

“Molested, Mum…” murmured Hugo. “He tried to kiss her and she punched him on his nose.” Hugo smiled at Lily. “She was awesome, and he was just drunk.”

“And so were you,” his father reprimanded. “At sixteen.”

Hugo lowered his eyes, visibly embarrassed.

Lily looked at Aunt Hermione. “I didn’t know,” she said softly.

“I know,” admitted Aunt Hermione, nodding seriously. “We didn’t tell you. We didn’t want to impress you.” She looked at Hugo. “Lily is your responsibility tonight, Hugo,” she said. “If anything happens to her, not only her parents will have your skin as a decoration in their living room—”

“Aunt Hermione,” mumbled Lily, flushing. “I can take care—”

“—but all of her family will come after you,” finished his father, “her Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron first.”

“Oh come on, I’m not an idiot,” complained Hugo, looking from one of them to the other. “I’ve already told him that she’s off limit.” He swallowed. “I told him she was my girlfriend; he’s not going to try anything with her.”

“Rose told him that she had a boyfriend too, remember?” said his father.

“Yeah, okay, you’re right,” sighed Hugo, nodding. “I’m never leaving her side, and if Daniel even dares to stare at her for a moment too long I’ll pull out his eyes with my bare hands.”

“Yes, and then take them here,” said Uncle Ron seriously. “I want to see them.”

“Alright,” replied Hugo, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, we’re not even sure that we’re going to the party. We can also not go at all.”

“Good choice,” stated Aunt Hermione dryly.

They finished eating in a not so cheerful atmosphere, and then Aunt Hermione announced that she and Lily were going to do some shopping into town.

“Well, I’m going to take a nap, then,” said Uncle Ron. “Unless my dear and only son is so kind as to offer me a re-match after this morning’s match.”

“You want me to trash you again,” said Hugo seriously. “Fair enough.”

Uncle Ron shook his head. “This time the weapon is different. We’re going to play Wizard’s Chess.”

“If you insist,” said Hugo.

“I do.”

“Great,” said Aunt Hermione, looking at Lily. “The guys are going to spend the afternoon playing, and we girls are going to do some shopping. The universe is in perfect order.”

Lily smiled and nodded.

“Do you have a hat? Because the sun is pretty unforgiving at this time of day,” added her aunt.

Lily nodded again. “It’s in my room, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, I’ll get the money out of Uncle Ron in the meantime,” whispered Aunt Hermione with a little wink.

Lily giggled and hurried up the stairs; she used the loo and gave a hasty brush at her hair, looking at her flushed skin in the mirror before going to her room. She knelt over her trolley and searched for the straw hat that Aunt Audrey had brought her from her last trip to Morocco with Uncle Percy.

“Hey.”

Lily started as Hugo walked in.

“Listen, if you don’t want to go tonight, it’s totally fine, okay?” he said anxiously, walking to her and kneeling next to her trolley too. He looked like he was particularly nervous. “I’d totally understand that, and I honestly don’t care one bit about seeing the guys if you’re not comfortable.”

She glanced at him before focusing on the hat once again. “It’s fine,” she replied softly. “I’m just surprised that you’re still friends with this Daniel after what he did to your sister.”

“We’re not friends-friends,” he admitted, swallowing loudly. “We used to be pretty tight, you know? He’s older than us, and it was cool that he would include me in everything he did with his friends…”

“Like getting drunk and molesting girls?” asked Lily, not meeting his eyes.

“I’ve never touched a girl against her will,” he hurried to say, as if it was a reassurance that she needed at that moment. “I swear, Lily.”

She looked at him, because the desperation in his voice was almost tangible and it made her heart swell. “I know,” she reassured him back. She smiled. “We can go to say hi to your friends. I feel totally and completely safe with you by my side.” She finally closed her fingers around her hat and straightened her back as she kissed Hugo’s forehead. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

He smiled back. “Don’t be too late, okay? We have to go to St Michael’s Mount.”

“I know,” she replied, standing up. “Good luck with your chess match.” She blew him a kiss and hurried downstairs again.

***

“That one is so cute, Aunt Hermione,” said Lily, pointing at the umpteenth window shop in less than half an hour. “The blue one.”

Aunt Hermione looked at it and, like with everything she did, she seemed to consider it very attentively. “That one will make your uncle have a heart attack, Lily,” she replied calmly.

“He doesn’t have to see it. I can wrap myself in a shawl. Like that awesome one there,” she said excitedly. “But it’s perfect, absolutely perfect…”

“I’m not too fond of it either.” Aunt Hermione furrowed her brow. “It looks… rather short, Lily…”

“But it’s perfect,” whined Lily, pouting and looking at her aunt. She made her puppy eyes that usually worked so well with her father and all of her uncles.

Aunt Hermione didn’t seem too affected, though. “Perfect for what?” she asked. “From what your mother told me, Derek doesn’t strike me as a guy who’d endorse that choice either.”

“It’s not for Derek, it’s for tonight,” she said, smiling.

Aunt Hermione pressed her lips tightly together. “That’s even less appropriate,” she said. “I’m sure Hugo wouldn’t be too happy to see you in that either.”

“But don’t I have to pretend to be his girlfriend for my own safety?” she asked sweetly. “Come on, Auntie… It’s sooo pretty…” She looked back at it. It was pretty. Short, yes, but cute as a button. Of a dark midnight blue, it was a draped, asymmetrical dress, with spaghetti straps on one shoulder while on the other side it covered part of the upper arm. It was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

“Can I at least try it?” asked Lily, eyes wide and pleading.

Aunt Hermione nodded and sighed, a smile finally stretching her lips. They walked into the shop and Lily asked to try the dress straight away. A fistful of minutes later, she was walking out of the fitting room.

“Oh, gorgeous!” exclaimed the shop assistant. “Absolutely gorgeous, it looks like it was made just for you, love.”

Lily turned to examine herself in the mirror and had to agree with the woman. It was perfect, perfect for her minute body type, perfect for her non-existing curves and her slender legs.

“Shall I pack it for you?” asked the shopping assistant.

“Thank you,” said Aunt Hermione calmly. “Can you give us a minute?”

The woman smiled tightly at her before walking away.

“It was made just for me, Auntie,” said Lily. “Did you hear her?”

Aunt Hermione cocked an eyebrow. “She just wants you to buy it,” she said. “It’s very pretty, Lily, but I hardly think your uncle will ever let you leave the house in that, tonight. I’m sorry.”

Lily hunched her shoulders. “Maybe I can buy this with my money,” she murmured, “and not wear it tonight.” Her face brightened up again. “Hugo invited me to Oliver Wood’s ball in September. Maybe I could wear it then.” She straightened her back and looked at herself from all directions. “It is a bit too daring for tonight,” she had to agree.

At the mention of Lily paying for it herself, Aunt Hermione capitulated. “Oh no need to take out your money,” she said gently. “We told you we would treat you this weekend. Why don’t we see if they have something else that you like for tonight and that will make you uncle as happy as you are?”

“Wicked,” she said, hugging her aunt tightly. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Aunt Hermione kissed her on her forehead. “No problem, my love.”

They spent half of the afternoon in that shop, but in their defence, it was big and filled with so many clothes that they had almost too much choice. Aunt Hermione got herself a long, green, sleeveless gown with pearls on the bodice and a fluffy skirt that swiped the floor.

Lily found a lacy peach dress, short and with a tiny belt that closed around her waist. It had three-quarters sleeves and came with a sexy slip dress, since the lace was definitely too transparent to be worn alone.

Aunt Hermione bought all three dresses, and they were both pleasantly surprised to discover they were on sale. They walked out of the shop when the afternoon was already rolling into a warm evening.

“Now, you hide the blue one from your uncle,” said Aunt Hermione conspiratorially. “Otherwise he’s going to give _me_ a roasting.”

Lily giggled, but she did as she was told, pushing the blue one at the bottom of the bag. She didn’t want to show it to Hugo either, it would be a surprise for the ball at Oliver Wood’s house. Now, she _really_ hoped that he would be picked.

“Shall we stop to get some ice-cream to bring home? I’m sure the guys are hungry,” said her aunt. “And I’m a bit peckish too.”

“Me too,” agreed Lily as they stopped to get a big bowl of ice-cream.

When they returned to the cottage, Uncle Ron and Hugo were both in the garden, reading silently one next to the other on the garden chairs. Uncle Ron didn’t even look up when Lily and Aunt Hermione walked towards them.

“Have you already finished your game?” asked Aunt Hermione cheerfully.

“Already? You’ve been away for hours,” pointed out Hugo, looking up at them from his book.

Lily grinned as she placed the ice-cream on the table. “Peace offering,” she said gently. “And it’s still early, and I just have to change into the dress.” She went to Uncle Ron and hugged him from behind. “Thank you for the present, Uncle Ron.” She kissed him on his cheek and grinned.

He finally looked up from the magazine and looked at her. “Can I see it?” he asked. “Wouldn’t want to have to forbid you from going to the castle.”

“Daaad!” complained Hugo as he opened the ice-cream bowl. “Honestly, she’s not your daughter.”

“She’s my sister’s daughter, close enough,” grunted Uncle Ron.

Lily let him go and turned to grin at Aunt Hermione before opening the bag. “No problem, Uncle Ron,” she said sweetly, taking out the dress. “I’m sure you’ll approve and will love it as much as we did.” She unfolded it and placed it in front of herself, turning a bit towards Uncle Ron and a bit towards Hugo. Both of them widened their blue eyes.

“You like it?” she asked to no one in particular.

Uncle Ron looked up at her with his mouth wide. “That’s transparent,” he choked out. “I can… You can’t wear… I can see you!”

Lily looked down at it and giggled. “Uncle Ron! It’s missing the slip dress,” she said. “It comes with a satin dress that goes underneath this one.”

Aunt Hermione drew it out of the bag and placed it in front of Lily. “Better?” she asked her husband.

Uncle Ron’s nostrils flared as he looked up at his wife. “It’s really short, Hermione,” he pointed out dryly.

“She’s on holiday, Ron,” sighed Aunt Hermione.

“It’s going to be cold tonight,” he grunted. “She’s going to get sick. Who’s going to listen to Ginny’s grievances when we get her daughter sick? Not me, I’m telling you.”

Lily placed the dress in Uncle Ron’s lap and went to Hugo. “Well, good thing I have my boyfriend to keep me warm, then,” she giggled as she wrapped her arms around his torso and leant her head on his back.

A flush crept up Hugo’s neck and he just focused on scooping up some ice-cream and giving Lily a very awkward one-armed hug.

Uncle Ron completely ignored them in favour of fussing about the dress. “Maybe we can attach a couple of inches if we use some kind of spell,” he growled.

“You will not do such thing,” said Aunt Hermione, taking the dress back. “Leave her be, Ron, she’s eighteen.”

Lily let go of Hugo and grabbed the dress before Uncle Ron could charm it longer or less transparent. “Come on, let’s have some ice-cream,” she said. “I need to get ready for tonight.”

***

She tried to take as little time in the bathroom as she could. Hugo was already ready, having had time to change while she was shopping. He was wearing a pair of elegant shorts and a white shirt, his curls were messier than usual, and his moccasins were new and shiny.

Lily had the hard task to comb her hair, and it really was hard, especially when she left her own evening bag in her room. She sighed and was ready to wrap a towel around herself to go fetch it, when she spotted Aunt Hermione’s makeup bag on the little cupboard near the basin.

She grinned; surely, her lovely aunt would not mind if she borrowed a gazillion bobby pins for her hair. And Lily was sure that Aunt Hermione owned a gazillion bobby pins too, since she had to use just as many as Rose did to keep her hair away from her face.

She unzipped Aunt Hermione’s bag and started to look for the bobby pins as well as a brush and some kind of potion to keep her hair into place.

“Toothbrush, toothpaste, elastic bands,” she listed, taking out the items one by one and placing them on the basin. “Lipstick, clippers, shampoo, lube, comb, perfume…” Her voice trailed away as she focused on the long tube that she had just placed near the shampoo. The makeup bag forgotten, she picked it up again. “Oh my…”

It was lube. It _really_ was lube. It said “lube” on the package, right next to a big heart and a naked woman who was standing in front of a naked man. Well, Lily couldn’t see anything because the picture stopped short of their hips, but they were certainly naked down there, and they seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she chanted. Looking into her aunt’s makeup bag had been a terrible idea. She wasn’t going to sleep that night, knowing that a room down from hers and Hugo’s, her aunt and her uncle were having… She hurried to stuff the bottle of lube back into the makeup bag, then she pushed everything else back inside, too.

She hastily wrapped her towel around her and walked back into her room; she grabbed her evening bag and hurried back to the bathroom, starting to comb her hair distractedly. God! She had never imagined that her aunt and her uncle were such adventurous people. Now, Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur maybe, Uncle George and Auntie Angelina surely. Uncle Charlie, damn yes. But Uncle Ron and Auntie Hermione? No, that was not right.

Lily glared at her reflection in the mirror. “Well, good for them,” she snapped to herself. “You’re just a jealous idiot. Just because Aunt Hermione knows how it is like to have—” She stopped, her eyes widening. Aunt Hermione knew how it was like to have anal sex! Of course. And she needed that, she needed someone who knew and could tell her. For the letter.

“Oh God! No, I can’t,” she wailed, sitting on the bathtub edge and hiding her face into her hands. “It’s too embarrassing.” No, Hugo was right; she had to ask a Healer. But she was embarrassed even to ask a professional about that. And the girl in the letter didn’t want a professional reply, she wanted a genuine one, from someone who had tried it and could talk about feelings and sensations.

But she couldn’t ask Aunt Hermione. It was way too embarrassing. And she would have wanted to know why Lily wanted to know. Oh God! No, no, no. She couldn’t ask her or any other member of her family.

Except Hugo, of course.

She bit down hard on her bottom lip.

That was mad.

She was completely and utterly nutter.

God. Yes, she was.

***

When she walked downstairs in her peach dress and creamy pumps, Hugo smiled warmly at her from the garden chair where he was waiting.

Uncle Ron followed his son’s gaze over to her and narrowed his eyes as he studied the dress and the way it created a playful game of see and can’t see with her body.

“It’s really short,” he growled under his breath.

Hugo looked at her and rolled his eyes, and she giggled as she walked to them.

“Shall we go?” said Hugo, standing up. “Before my dad sends you back to our room to change?”

Lily giggled again, and Uncle Ron just snorted, but luckily Aunt Hermione appeared on the door at that moment, looking ravishing in her long dress, and Uncle Ron’s attention was suddenly reverted to his wife.

“Wow,” said Lily, grinning from ear to ear.

“Mum? You look beautiful,” babbled Hugo.

“Thank you, guys,” she replied with a smile before turning to look at Uncle Ron. “What do you think, Ron?”

They all turned to Uncle Ron, who sat there, eyes wide and gaping. He stood up and walked to her; he grabbed her hand and made her twirl like a princess at a ball. “I think that if those two want to stay out all night and come back tomorrow morning, I’m fine with that,” he said as he kissed her.

“Eeew,” said Hugo, looking away.

Lily smiled awkwardly at the pair as she imagined what they’d do while she and Hugo were out all night. She grabbed Hugo’s arm. “Let’s go,” she whispered anxiously.

He nodded and placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the centre of the garden.

“Hold on, you two,” said Uncle Ron sternly.

Hugo and Lily turned to look at him. He had let Aunt Hermione go and he was looking severely at them. “I was joking,” he said. “Don’t come back too late, alright?”

“Of course, Dad,” said Hugo. “We want to wake up early tomorrow to go to the beach.”

“Do we?” asked Lily, looking at him horrified.

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. “Ready?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Have a lovely evening,” said Aunt Hermione. “See you tomorrow.”

“You too,” replied Lily, then she closed her eyes and let Hugo take control as they Disapparated from the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Easter, guys! Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow! I know mine is going to be filled with chocolate and surprises! :D 
> 
> I was very disappointed when I noticed that the weekend stood right in the middle of the chapters with the mini-holiday. Ugh. Sorry about that! But yeah, hopefully Easter will keep our minds busy with something else, right? 
> 
> Thank you, as always to my wonderful readers and commenters! You brighten up my days. ♥


	20. Chapter 20

***

With a pop they Apparated near an ancient oak tree. It was already evening, and the warm, orange sunrays hit Lily’s face as she opened her eyes to look around herself. They were standing in a thick wood, but she could hear the lazy sloshing of the waves on the nearby beach.

Hugo didn’t let her go straight away. He held her there, against his chest and she could feel his calm breathing against her cheek as well as his fingers rubbing soothing circles on the small of her back.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered. “I didn’t want to say that in front of my dad, but you really do.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you,” she replied. “Your mum helped me pick this dress.” She patted his chest. “And you look pretty handsome yourself, you know?”

He winked down at her and finally let her go. He looked around himself, to orientate probably, and after a moment, he held his hand out for her to take. “If we have to pretend to be together, we might just start straight away,” he said with a smile. “So we don’t forget later on, right?”

She laughed amusedly, nodded, and grabbed his hand to let him guide her towards a small path that led them into the village. The village was small, but there were quite a bit of people around, wizards and Muggles probably, young and old, couples, families, and groups of friends.

When they reached the harbour, where many little boats were moored, he made her turn to have a look at the castle on top of the hill. It was beautiful in the warm light of the sunset; it seemed almost on fire.

“Wow,” she breathed. “It’s gorgeous.”

Hugo nodded as he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms over her collarbone. “It used to be a Priory,” he explained, “and then it was turned into a fortified castle. There’s actually a family who still lives there.”

“In there?” she asked, eyes wide. “Like a royal family or something?”

He nodded, his chin brushing against her hair. “The St Aubyn family. They are baronets or something similar.” He pointed towards a semi-hidden path. “But the castle is open to the public. It’s a bit late now, but we can have a quick look around if you want to.”

“Oh yes, please,” said Lily, grabbing his arms. “I’m dying to see it inside.”

He smiled at her and soon they were making their way towards the gates of the castle. They were a little bit past the admission time, but Hugo invented some excuse about today being their anniversary, and Lily smiled as cutely as she could and the groundkeeper caved in immediately. He ushered them inside and told them to tag along the first guided group they could find. They did just that and Lily loved the lavish rooms, the interesting history facts rattled off by the guide, and the breath-taking views from the windows.

When the tour ended, they were escorted back to the gates and the groundkeeper waved them goodbye as he closed the iron gates at their back. “It’s gorgeous,” gushed Lily, as they made their way back towards the village. “It makes you daydream about living there.”

Hugo grasped her hand again, lacing his fingers with hers. “It’s a bit sumptuous for a home, though, isn’t it?”

“I’m sure I can get used to it,” she giggled. “And I’m sure you can afford servants if you can afford that place.” She stood on tiptoes to bring her head closer to his. “Maybe a hundred house-elves,” she whispered.

“Hmm, you don’t want my mother to visit, do you?”

Lily placed her hand on his arm and started to play with his sleeve. “She’s fine with Kreacher,” she pointed out. “Maybe we can use the Gemino Curse on him.”

Hugo shook his head. “She’s fine with Kreacher because he almost killed himself when your dad tried to free him when he inherited Grimmauld Place,” he reminded her. “Or so legend has it.”

Lily nodded and looked around at the village which was about to be swallowed by the darkness of the night. “Are we going to the restaurant, now?” she asked. “Because I’m a bit peckish, you know…”

“Yeah, me too. Snorkelling really tired me out today,” he admitted, nodding. “This way.”

“And I went shopping, too,” she reminded him, “and it was super tiring as well. You might have to carry me back to the cottage tonight, if I fall asleep before we get home.”

“If you pay me,” he joked. “There, that door.” He pointed towards a shack and Lily followed him to the door. He knocked three times and, when the door opened with a creak, they walked inside.

There was a long and dark corridor and, as they reached another door, it opened instantaneously on a beautiful dining hall filled with many busy tables and tall windows that overlooked the sea.

“Oh,” was all Lily could say as a young man with a menu in his hands came to welcome them.

“Mr Weasley and Miss Potter?” asked the wizard.

Both Hugo and Lily started.

“Yes,” replied Hugo slowly. “How do you know?”

“Someone booked a table for you,” said the man. “If you’d follow me.” He turned and guided them towards a small, round table near the windows. He moved the chair back for Lily and she sat and thanked him as he opened the napkin and placed it gracefully on her lap. He handed a menu each and told them to call him if they needed any additional information before they ordered.

“Your mum must have booked for us,” whispered Lily over the menu.

Hugo nodded back at her. “Luckily,” he said, looking at the hall. “Because it looks pretty full to me.”

“Well, it’s the first weekend of August,” she said, looking around herself as well. “We were silly not to think about it ourselves.”

“Yeah, luckily my mum is not as silly as we are.” He looked down at the menu. “So, apparently the Stargazy Pie is a typical dish here in Cornwall, but it’s kind of heavy,” he went on. “There’s fish and onions and eggs…”

“That sounds like a lot of stuff,” she agreed. “I wanted some kind of seafood, to be honest.”

“Seafood…” He scanned the menu. “Okay, let me.”

Hugo ordered for both of them. Oysters Charentaise, Langoustines, Seared Scallops with Salt Baked Celeriac “au beurre de cidre”, lobster for two with roasted potatoes, two slices of cake, and a bottle of wine.

“That’s a lot of stuff,” fretted Lily when the waiter had retrieved the menus and left their table.

“I’m sure we can manage,” he grinned. “I am starving.”

She shook her head frantically. “No, I mean… I don’t have that much money with me, Hugo.”

He furrowed his brow as if her consideration was not as legitimate as she thought it was. “Oh don’t worry about that,” he said, waving a hand. “You’re my guest.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said fretfully, widening her eyes. “That’s a lot of money, I’m sure.”

“Okay. I was pretending to be romantic,” he said, rolling his eyes half-heartedly. “Alright, my parents gave me money for tonight.”

“What?” she asked, eyes wider than before. “More money?” She shook her head. “That’s too much.”

Hugo shrugged a shoulder. “They love you; they would never treat me to this if you weren’t here.”

“Shut up,” she giggled. “But I can’t accept. This is too much; I’m going to talk to Aunt Hermione, tomorrow.”

“Oh shush you,” he said. “She’s happy to treat her favourite niece.” He stopped and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell her I told you you’re her favourite.”

“Oh please,” she said. “Can you stop joking and be serious for a moment?”

“I am serious.”

“We have to cook something scrumptious for when they come to eat at ours,” said Lily.

“We? Don’t look at me: it’s you they’re treating,” he replied calmly.

She glared at him, but their waiter brought their hors d'oeuvre right at that moment, with a chilled bottle of wine and abundant bread, so Lily was distracted by the delicacies that were placed in front of them to keep arguing.

“So good,” hummed Lily as she swallowed an oyster.

“Hmm,” agreed Hugo.

Everything was delicious, and soon they were talking about getting a cookery book and trying some of those recipes at home, about what they would be doing the following day, about whether or not they wanted to go to the club and the beach party.

“It’s going to be really late when we get to the beach party,” pointed out Hugo.

Lily cleaned her mouth on the napkin and sipped some wine. “Oh, does it end pretty early?”

“No, I think they’ll be at it all night long,” he replied. “It’s just that I wanted to get home quite earl-ish, you know…”

“Are you tired?” she asked. “Because I’m a bit, too…”

“No, not that,” he said, as the waiter cleared the table for the main course. “I just wanted to wake up early and take you to a nice place where you can see—”

“The sun rising?” she asked with an ill-concealed groan.

“Yeah,” he replied. “You don’t like the idea, do you?”

“Rose told me to tell you not to wake me up at stupid o’clock to go and see the sunrise,” she admitted, giggling. “If Rose says that…”

Hugo rolled his eyes. “It’s a lovely sight, I swear…”

“I’ve seen the sun rising,” she pointed out. “I’ve been up all night to see it rise.” She smiled. “Maybe we can have a drink at the club, and then we can head to the beach and if we like the beach party, we can stay until dawn and see the sun rising there. What do you think?”

“We’re going to be knackered tomorrow,” he said sensibly. “I don’t want to spend the whole day sleeping inside. We’re at the beach.”

“We can sleep at the beach,” she said. “Sunbathing and sleeping at the same time.” She grinned. “Pretty please, Hugo… I’ll be knackered anyway if you wake me up at four to look at the sunrise…”

He rolled his eyes, but then two lobsters where brought to their table with the compliments of the chef and they were too busy eating to keep on quarrelling about the following day.

The lobster was delicious, with a delicate mayonnaise, lemon and garlic butter melted on top. The roasted potatoes were lovely too, soft on the inside and crisp on the outside.

“This is a really good restaurant,” she said. “Probably the best I’ve ever been to.”

Hugo shrugged a shoulder and raised a glass. “Only the best for my girlfriend,” he said with a wink.

She clinked her own glass with his. “Thank you.”

The cake was scrumptious as well, with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, but Lily was too full to manage to finish it. Hugo came to her rescue, though, so she sat back and looked at him eating.

“So,” she started. “I’m full.”

“Same,” he replied, still eating.

“Shall we have a lovely walk to the club, have a couple of drinks, and then walk back to the beach?” she asked thoughtfully. “I mean, we can Apparate somewhere not too far away and walk to the party, right?”

Hugo finished the cake and cleaned his mouth on a napkin. “I can’t drink though,” he reminded her. “I have to keep an eye on you.”

“We ate so much, we’re not going to get drunk with a couple of Firewhisky.” She felt very sensible in her belief. “And we have our wands. And if your friend tries anything—no, he’s not going to try anything because we’re going to be attached to the hip for the whole evening. Sounds good?”

He narrowed his eyes, but smiled. “You have a bad influence on me, Lily Potter,” he said.

“Or a very good one,” she giggled.

“No, no, a bad one…”

Hugo paid the pricey bill and they finally walked out of the restaurant and in the breezy air of the night. Everything around them was quiet, except for the lapping of the water at the nearby harbour. She shivered and Hugo wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her warm.

“How can you be this hot? I’m freezing,” she complained, pushing herself against him.

“Are you sure you want to walk back to the beach? We can Apparate home and get under the covers until sunrise.”

She elbowed him in the ribs. “Until after sunrise, and no thank you,” she said. “I just need a bit of alcohol to warm me up.”

“Little alcoholic,” he joked in a whisper. “Okay, it’s this way.” He headed down a narrow path that seemed to lead into the sea, but turned steeply right before the water. There, a little wooden door with no handle and with the word “cave” engraved in gold on top, awaited them.

Hugo drew out his wand and touched it to the “C”, which vibrated and seemed to melt, dropping down to form a little handle on the left.

“Wicked,” murmured Lily.

Hugo winked at her and pushed the door open.

Inside, the place was dimly lit and smelling of alcohol and sweat, while the Weird Sisters’ latest hits were blasting off some device. It looked a bit like a cave, and probably that was where its name came from.

Hugo grasped her hand again, almost more forcefully than before now, and guided her past snogging couples and people who were dancing and laughing and drinking. They reached the bar in the corner and Hugo ordered two Firewhisky.

He turned to Lily and handed her one before clinking their glasses together. She grinned at him in the dim light of the club and then they downed them.

She winced at the sting of the alcohol down her throat, and when she looked up at Hugo, she noticed that he was staring at her with an amused grin over his face. She stood on tiptoes and screamed in his ear, “Another one.”

He cocked his head and looked severely at her, but she just grinned and he capitulated. He ordered another two and they drank them as quickly as the first ones. She sensed the alcohol spreading to her extremities and soon she felt much warmer than before. She placed the glass on the counter of the bar and grabbed Hugo’s hand.

She was nowhere near drunk enough – with all the food she had eaten, she wasn’t even a little bit drunk – but the lights were dim and the music was catchy and she really wanted to dance with Hugo…

She dragged him to where the other people were dancing. She smiled brightly and turned around, pressing herself against his chest. His hands were on her waist before she could even guide them there. He was stupidly tall compared to her, but nonetheless it felt good to dance with him.

They danced for what seemed hours, without saying a single word – and how could they anyway? The music was so loud that, when they finally decided that it was time to get going, they thought they had become deaf.

They drank another shot of Firewhisky and Lily insisted on getting tequilas, too. Just for fun. Then Hugo’s arm was squeezing around her neck as they walked out again. They still weren’t drunk, but surely tipsier than before.

“That was fun,” giggled Lily, louder than she had intended, but without actually realising just how loud.

He squeezed her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. “You dance well,” he said, “better than last time.”

She wrapped her arm around his torso. “Because this time there weren’t your friends to make me feel like an uncoordinated spider sliding on ice,” she laughed. “And the light was so dim, nobody could really see me.”

Hugo stopped and turned his head towards her. “I could,” he murmured.

“Yeah, but you don’t count,” she said. “You’re not going to laugh at me.”

He smiled warmly at her, when his hands were once again on her waist, then the small of her back, then he was hugging her tightly and Disapparating away with her in his arms.

When he Apparated again, they were at the far end of the beach in Penzance. The promenade that started there was deserted and so was the beach itself. Lily narrowed her eyes and looked in front of her. There was a bonfire, probably a mile away, and she could hear voices, music, and laughter when there was some breeze blowing from that direction.

“We don’t have to go,” murmured Hugo, and only then she noticed that he was still hugging her. “We can go home.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Why don’t we walk towards home and when we’re near the party we decide what to do?” She looked up at him. “What’s the time, though?”

As if she had asked it to some kind of divinity, there was the strike of a bell coming from the city, followed by another one.

“I’d say it’s two in the morning,” chuckled Hugo.

“Still early,” said Lily cheekily. “Let’s go.” She wriggled free from his arms and took off her shoes, holding them in the hand she didn’t close around Hugo’s. He did the same with his own moccasins.

They walked on the sand, sometimes sinking their feet in the water, sometimes running for a bit, sometimes just walking there in silence. Lily wasn’t drunk, she knew she wasn’t, still she felt bold that evening. So she didn’t have to convince herself that that was the perfect time to bring up what she was dying to say to Hugo.

She looked at the flames of the bonfire that were now well visible in front of them and took a deep breath, slowing down her steps. “If I tell you something,” she murmured, “you promise you won’t get mad at me?”

“Do I ever get mad at you, Lily?”

“Yes,” she replied simply.

“Alright, I promise…”

She stopped, dug her toes into the sand, and looked up at him. She knew he was going to be mad, so mad she was ready for him to scream at her. “I forgot my evening bag when I went to the bathroom this afternoon.”

“Okay,” he said slowly, furrowing his brow. “I can assure you that I’m not mad.”

She shook her head and lowered her eyes as he took a step forward and came to stand in front of her. “But there was your mother’s makeup bag, and I needed bobby pins, so I tried to see if she had any.”

“Okay,” he repeated. “I can assure you that my mum won’t be angry either.”

Lily swallowed loudly. “I found something in your mother’s makeup bag…” She paused because she suddenly didn’t feel as bold as before. She probably needed more alcohol for what she was about to confess.

“What?” he asked, concern in his voice.

She stared at the nervous twitch of his toes in the sand before taking another deep breath and murmuring, “A bottle of lube.”

Silence followed her revelation. Hugo didn’t speak, he didn’t move a muscle, and neither did she. It was only after a good few minutes that she finally looked up at him. He was looking back at her with a blank expression over his face.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Lube?” he asked back, horrified. “Why on earth—”

“You know why,” she said urgently.

He swallowed. “I meant why on earth would you share that with me?”

She blushed at that. “I just wanted you to know how I got to what I wanted to ask you,” she murmured.

“What?” he asked, furrowing his brow again.

She took a deep breath. “I thought about asking your mother for advice on the letter…”

“Oh God.”

“But I can’t bring myself,” she hurried to add. “It’s too embarrassing.”

Hugo closed his eyes for a moment. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“I can’t ask anybody. It’s just… It’s too much,” she said, “both for me and for the person I’m asking these things to.”

He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow in silent assent. “So?” he asked hoarsely. “What’s your plan?”

She lowered her eyes again. “I’m… I should try it,” she said and even as she said it, she couldn’t believe that she was actually proffering those words. “I mean…”

Hugo’s breath caught in his throat. “You mean you should try anal sex?” he asked, his voice throaty.

She nodded but couldn’t reply out loud.

“With… _me_?” His voice was tight with emotion as he spoke.

She looked up. “If you want to,” she said anxiously. “I would totally understand if you didn’t want to anymore.”

He smiled weakly. “I said I’d help you. A promise is a promise.” He placed his hands on her arms and she shivered under his touch. “Not here though,” he whispered. “I mean, not in Penzance while we’re sleeping under the same roof as my parents.”

“Oh God no!” she agreed.

He bit his bottom lip, his eyes boring into hers. “Okay,” he murmured. “When we get back home, then.”

She swallowed and nodded, shivering slightly.

He grasped her arms a bit more forcefully and pulled her to him. “I promise I’ll be so gentle you won’t feel any pain at all,” he whispered, leaning his cheek over the top of her head.

She hugged him back, grasping his shirt. “I know,” she murmured. She could hear his heart next to her ear, and it was beating so furiously that for a moment it drowned out every other sound around them.

“It’s going to be—”

“I know.”

He kissed her hair. “I love you,” he whispered.

She sighed. “Love you back.”

They stayed there for longer than she had expected. It was good, though. She felt safe in his arms and she didn’t want to let him go. Especially not now that she had made him aware of her decision. She needed to stay there in his arms.

And Hugo was tremendous. Whoever was fortunate enough to become his girlfriend was definitely going to be the luckiest girl on earth. And the one person in the world Lily would be the most jealous of.

It was only when the sea came crashing around her ankles that she took a deep breath and tilted her head upwards, looking at him in the moonlight. “Shall we make our way to the party?” she asked softly.

“I don’t mind staying here all night with you,” he said sweetly. He lowered his head and kissed her nose. “Waiting for the sunrise.” He kissed her forehead. “Lying down on the sand with you.”

He smiled at her and, for a moment, everything else around them seemed to disappear. His blue eyes glanced at her lips and then back up to bore into hers. His tongue darted out, and Lily’s breath caught in her throat.

“Have I already said that you look beautiful tonight?” he whispered so tenderly that Lily felt like she was right about to melt in his arms.

She nodded dumbly, without being able to reply to him out loud.

“Good,” he added in a whisper. He hunched his shoulders a bit more, and closed his eyes. His fingers slipped on the small of her back and he dragged her forward imperceptibly. He tilted his head and puckered his lips, and he slowly got closer and closer to her.

The butterflies in Lily’s stomach swirled around so uncontrollably and so suddenly, they almost hurt. Panicking at what was about to happen, she widened her eyes and titled her head back, pushing on his chest and wriggling free of his arms. She stumbled on her own feet, and she would have surely ended up in a pathetic heap of limbs on the sand, had Hugo’s hand not caught her around her upper arm.

“Oh my God,” he mumbled. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… I…”

She grabbed his shirt to steady herself, looking everywhere but at him. “No, I… I just thought…” she whispered back, but her words trailed away. She hoped he couldn’t see her face because her cheeks were on fire.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated fretfully. “It’s… It’s just that the sea, and the beach, and the Firewhisky, and… and you…”

“Me what?” asked Lily, finally looking at him. Her eyes were so wide they hurt her. What was he talking about?

He looked back at her with a surprised expression over his face. “No, I was just—”

“Yes?” she urged him.

“No. Nothing,” he whispered. “I just thought it was a good moment to kiss you. I don’t even know why. I must be drunker than I thought.”

Lily shook her head forcefully, biting down hard on her bottom lip. “I can’t. I don’t go around kissing just anybody, you know,” she said almost desperately. “I haven’t even kissed Derek yet. It’s just…”

“Yes?” Now it was his time to urge her on.

“Kissing is something intimate,” she muttered. “It’s something that connects you to another person on a deeper level. You can’t just go around kissing everybody.” She looked up at him severely. “Like someone does.”

Hugo furrowed his brow. “You mean me?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. Her cheeks were still on fire, but now it was for a different reason. “I’ve seen your hickey when I gave you that massage,” she said sourly, “and Marie said that, and I quote, _she kissed you alright_ , so…”

He took a deep breath, probably trying to decide what to say next. Hopefully, he would manage to come up with an explanation that didn’t involve Marie and her lips, because that would have made Lily’s heart break. Well, unless he confessed that Marie was vampire, and then he asked for Lily’s help in killing her.

“I was really drunk that night,” he finally said. “The night you didn’t come to the pub with us and went to your date. My shoulder hurt, I missed you, I just needed a bit of alcohol to get me going, and ended up being completely off my face.”

Lily swallowed. Oh God. Why did she feel rather guilty all of a sudden? Was it her fault? Would he have not kissed Marie if Lily had stayed with him?

“Someone had to Apparate me back home,” he went on. “I guess… I don’t even remember. Probably it was McLaggen.”

“Okay,” she murmured.

“I don’t even remember what it was like to kiss Marie.”

Lily was sure that Hugo must have heard that cracking sound coming from her heart, because it was just too loud to be missed. “Okay,” she repeated more forcefully. “Stop it. I get it.” She turned away from him, picked up her shoes again, and started to walk towards the party once more. “I don’t want to hear you talk about your kiss with Marie,” she muttered. “Not tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, starting to follow her.

“It’s okay, let’s just talk about something else,” she muttered, kicking a little mountain of wet sand in front of her.

He suddenly caught up with her; his arms hugged her from behind and he pulled her to his chest as he kissed her temple and smiled. “For example the moment we’re going to have sex? How fantastic that’ll be?” he whispered.

“No,” she replied weakly, grabbing his wrists. “Let’s just not talk about anything like that. Let’s talk about… about tomorrow, about what we’ll do tomorrow.”

“Hmm, yes,” murmured Hugo, kissing her again. “We can have sex tomorrow evening, when we get back.”

“Hugo!” she protested weakly, wriggling in his arms.

He kissed her a third time and finally let her go. “I’m joking,” he said cheerfully. “Come on,” he grabbed her hand and started walking towards the party. “I’d say that if we’re too tired tomorrow morning, we should take it easy. Like sleeping on the beach as you suggested.”

“And do a bit of snorkelling?” she added softly. She felt suddenly lighter than before now that they had changed the subject. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe she was drunker than she thought too.  

“You really liked that, didn’t you?” he grinned.

“It was fun,” she said, nodding thoughtfully. “Why have you never taken me snorkelling at Shell Cottage?”

“The water there is not as clear as it is here,” he replied, shrugging a shoulder, “and I really didn’t think you’d like it _that_ much.” He looked at her and smiled. “I’m glad you do, though. We can organise a day at the beach in August.” He bit on his bottom lip. “Just the two of us. One weekend…”

“That’s an awesome idea!” she exclaimed. “We don’t even need to find a place to sleep, we can Apparate or get a Portkey and come back in the evening!” She giggled at the thought of another mini holiday. “Where can we go?”

He seemed to think about it. “St Martin’s is really nice,” he said. “It’s a small island off the coast of Cornwall, in the Isles of Scilly. I’ve never been but they say it’s a paradise if you want to do some snorkelling. That’s in the U.K., though, but the Mediterranean is also nice. Greece, Italy, Spain…”

“We should go somewhere,” she said seriously, nodding at his suggestions. “Just for the day. I also need to sunbathe a bit more.”

“You’ve been to France for two weeks,” he pointed out.

“Yes, but I was busy going shopping with Dom rather than lying in the sun all day long.”

“Of course you were,” sighed Hugo.

They finally reached a small sandy hill and could hear the music, voices and laughter coming from the other side. They stopped for a second.

“We don’t have to go,” said Hugo for the umpteenth time that day.

She looked up at him, smiling brightly. “I know,” she said patiently. “Let’s just say hi to your friends and then go home.”

Hugo nodded, but suddenly his fingers had tightened around hers, as if he was scared that she would let his hand go and get lost in the party. She squeezed him back to reassure him that she didn’t intend to let him go.

They walked past the hill and finally found Hugo’s friends dancing and laughing and snogging girls around a bonfire. There were bottles of booze pushed in the sand, and half-naked men and girls in bikinis dancing around them. They all looked flushed and happy, probably too drunk to even notice the fact that the breeze was anything but hot at that time of night.

“Oh God,” muttered Hugo. “I forgot what kind of parties they like to have.”

“They surely know how to have fun,” giggled Lily, gaining an unimpressed look from Hugo.

He was right about to reply to her when a young man pounced him and his hand was torn from hers.

“Hugo!” exclaimed the young man. “Hey, it’s Hugo, guys!”

They were soon surrounded by more half-naked lads, patting Hugo’s shoulders and messing up his hair, while the girls kissed his cheeks and hugged him way too lustfully for Lily’s liking.

He seemed to know everybody, and everybody knew him apparently. Lily was starting to feel just a little neglected, when Daniel pushed her forward none-too-gently.

“Hey, this is the girl I told you about,” he slurred a bit. “Hugo’s squeeze.”

Suddenly, they all turned their attention to her. She jumped a bit when a hand ghosted on her arse, but was distracted from swatting it away when a couple of girls pressed their breasts to her sides and kissed her cheeks and asked her some prying questions about her relationship with “little Hugo”. One of the boys hugged her forcefully, slurring incomprehensible words in her ear, and Daniel brought his face so close to hers she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Hey, you’re not drunk,” said Daniel when she tilted her head back and cringed. “Sam, bring some booze, the good stuff.”

A hand closed on her upper arm and she was forcefully disentangled from Daniel’s embrace.

“I don’t think we’re staying,” said Hugo seriously, pulling her to him possessively. “It’s a bit late; we just came to say hi.”

There was more laughter, and then a bottle of something that didn’t have a label was pressed into Lily’s hand.

Hugo grabbed it before she even understood what was happening. “Thank you, but we drank already,” he said, handing it back to Daniel.

“Yeah, but you’re not drunk,” chuckled someone.

“What did you drink? Wine? Some fancy drink with 2% alcohol and 98% snob?” asked Daniel with a snort. He got closer to Lily again, pressing the bottle in her hand once more. “Come on, little red, you’re not afraid of a bit of booze, are you?”

“No,” she replied, “but we’re tired, we just want to go to bed.”

There were whistles and laughter and she suddenly understood that she had said something really wrong and really right at the same time.

“Uh-oh,” said a girl. “There’s a cave down there for that. Remember where, Hugo?”

He blushed crimson and smiled sheepishly at Lily, but she just glared at him, definitely not wanting to know.

“Yeah, take her,” said a boy, who was trying to find more alcohol in an empty bottle that he was holding upside down over his head.

“Yeah,” said Daniel, “and if he doesn’t want to take you, I’ll do it.”

“Hey,” grunted Hugo, pushing him back from Lily with a hand on his chest. “We’re fine like this.”

“Whoa,” growled Daniel. “Are you pushing me, Hugo?” He stretched his arms and pushed Hugo back, much more forcefully than he had done to him. Hugo took a step back and grimaced at the pain in his chest.

“Hey!” snapped Lily. “Are you mad?”

Daniel was already laughing and jumping around like a monkey. “Come on, Hugo,” he said, raising both his fists as if he was ready to hit him. “Come on, who wins get a go with the girl.”

“What?” asked Lily in disbelief, while the others started to cheer. “You’re out of your mind.”

“Yeah, you’re drunk,” grunted Hugo. “We’re out of here.” He grabbed Lily’s hand and made her turn around and towards the city, dragging her along on the way to the cottage.

They hadn’t taken more than a few steps, though, that Daniel was once again next to them. Silent despite his inebriated state, he jumped at Lily’s back, and pinched her butt cheek so forcefully that she actually cried out in pain and jumped a little.

Hugo pounced on him before Daniel’s fingers had even let her go, and when Lily turned to look at them they were rolling on the sand, punching each other in the face, and kicking at one other’s legs.

The other people there were laughing, cheering, and raising empty and full bottles in the air. Nobody seemed to want to divide them, nobody seemed to care if their alpha male – Lily couldn’t think of any other word to describe him – was beating up someone and was beaten up too at the same time.

She let her shoes go and hurried to where they were rolling about. “Stop it!” she cried. “Stop it! Let him go!”

The two young men didn’t seem to hear her. Hugo brought his arm back to punch Daniel another time, and Lily gasped at seeing blood dripping from his broken lip. “Hugo! Stop it!” she said, almost desperately.

“Ah, so romantic,” giggled a girl next to her. She grabbed her bikini top and raised it, jumping up and down to cheer.

Lily’s eyes widened and she looked away from the girl’s swaying bosom. God, what was the booze of choice in Cornwall? Absinthe? Some kind of magic mushroom essence? Certainly, it was something that made those people go mad.

A guy came to stand next to Lily, grinning idiotically. “Hey, you have to go down on the one who wins, you know that, right?”

“What?” she gasped, eyes wide.

“Yeah, right in front of everybody.”

“Oh shut up, Mike,” giggled a girl before turning her attention towards the fight. “Go Daniel!”

“You can always come to the cave with me,” went on the boy. “I’ll make it good for you.” He stretched a hand, probably to place it on her bottom, and gave her another idiotic smile.

“Don’t touch me,” said Lily curtly. She stepped back and away from him, returning her attention to the fight. Hugo was now sitting on Daniel’s lower abdomen, trying to fend off the other’s attacks and punching him with vicious force.

“Hugo!” she called him. “Stop it!”

He turned for a moment to look at her, eyes wide and spirited, and Daniel seized the moment to push him off and tackle him to the ground.

Lily gasped, as now it was Daniel’s turn to punch Hugo’s face with all his forces. The people around them were just laughing though, as if that was the best show they had ever assisted to.

“Stop it! Let him go!” she cried, but Daniel just smirked and hit with single-mindedly purpose.

Hugo’s legs twitched a little under the other man and Lily felt tears coming up to sting her eyes. She was irritated and worried, and she just didn’t even think before she threw herself at Daniel’s back, winding her arms around his neck. “Let him go!” she screamed, trying to push him off Hugo. “Let him go.”

Daniel panted as she knocked the air out of his lungs, and swung his arms back, at first without purpose, but then a fist hit Lily in the eye and she gasped and finally let him go, falling and landing on her back on the sand.

A crowd gathered around her.

“Oi, not cool, mate…”

“Well, she kind of stood in the middle…”

“Whoa, Daniel, you don’t punch a girl, that’s like seven years of misfortune.”

“That’s breaking a mirror, Gavin…”

“Shit, is she alive?”

“Yes, idiot, she’s breathing, can’t you see?”

“Hey, are you okay?”

A cold hand was placed on her forehead and she winced.

“Can you stand?”

“Oh shit, shit, shit,” Hugo was saying. “Shit, Lily. Fuck…”

She tried to open her eyes, but one hurt too much and she was only able to put half of the scene into focus. Hugo’s bloodied face was perched over her, worried beyond words.

He placed a hand behind her neck, while the other grabbed her arm. “Can you stand?” he asked worriedly. “Does it hurt?”

“Eew, it’s swelling already.”

“That’s going to look ugly tomorrow.”

Lily groaned out loud. She let Hugo tug her gently to her feet and then leant herself against his bloodied shirt. “My head hurts,” she complained.

“I’m sure it does,” giggled a girl.

“Oh God, let me see,” said Hugo. He placed two fingers under her chin and made her tilt her head back. His face went out of focus again as he examined her black eye. “Let’s go home, we’re going to put some ice on that.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, Lily,” said Daniel from somewhere at her left. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Stay away from her,” growled Hugo, pushing past him none-too-gently. “We’re going home.” He spat some blood on the sand, grunting under his breath as they walked past the now silent crowd of people.

Lily’s head was hurting too much to do anything but follow Hugo. So, she just put a foot after the other and kept going towards the cottage. It was only when they were into the wood that Hugo hugged her tightly. “Hold on.”

She did and he Disapparated with her in tow. She didn’t know how he could find the strength to Apparate at all, but he delivered both of them safely into the back garden of the cottage.

He sat her on a chair and knelt in front of her. She looked at him darkly from behind her one eye.

He smiled and she recoiled when she saw blood even on his teeth. “Some of those people are Muggles,” he said simply. “They’re going to marvel if they see you all pretty and healed tomorrow.” He drew out his wand. “On the other hand, if my parents see you like that, they’re going to cut off my head and put it over the chimney.” He pointed it towards her and muttered a Healing Spell. She could feel the swelling decreasing around her eye, and soon she could see again and her head didn’t hurt anymore. “Better?” asked Hugo

She felt around her eye with her fingers. “Much,” she replied dryly. “And what if they see you like that? You look like you’ve been hit by an army of Bludgers.” She didn’t let him reply, she Healed him and cleaned him with some quick spells, and soon they were both as good as new.

“Thank you,” he murmured as he sat on the chair next to her.

She snorted softly. “Why are you friends with these people?” she asked hotly. “They are vulgar, irksome, and quick to violence. I can’t imagine anybody being as different from you as they are.”

He gave her a little smile. “Thank you,” he said softly. “And I don’t know why I used to consider them friends. They aren’t anymore starting from ten minutes ago, I swear.”

She folded her arms across her chest, darkening even more. “Good to hear,” she growled.

There was a long pause, the breeze coming from the sea brought them the voices of Hugo’s ex-friends down at the beach, and Lily wrinkled her nose at them.

“Are you angry?” asked Hugo in a whisper.

Lily raised her feet until her heels were tucked on the chair and leant her chin over her knees. She nodded. “Yeah, with me,” she sighed. “You kept warning me about going to the party, and I didn’t listen.” She glanced at him askew. “I just couldn’t imagine those people were so disgusting.” She darkened again. “You know what they said? That I had to give head to whoever beat the shit out of the other on that beach. In front of everybody!”

Hugo looked sheepishly at her. “They were joking.”

“I dearly hope so,” she growled.

“It’s inexcusable anyway,” he hurried to add. “I’ll beat the shit out of whoever said that. Who was it, Lily? Tell me, he’s not going to see the sun set today. He’s going to end up sleeping with the fish. I’m going to hex him so hard, he’ll never know what killed him.”

That managed to make her crack a smile. “Shut up,” she said fondly.

“No, I’ll do it, I swear.” He nodded for good measure.

She rolled her eyes and grinned before placing her feet back on the ground and going to him. She sat on his lap and leant her side against his chest, placing her legs over the armrest. “I was scared, you know,” she whispered in his ear. “You were covered in blood and all those stupid people were just laughing as if it was fun to look at you getting beaten.”

“Hey, I beat him too, you know,” he protested, tilting his head back to look at her. “He was covered in blood, too.”

She sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I wasn’t looking at him, I was looking at you.”

“I’m sorry I made you worry.”

She kissed his neck. “It’s okay. You were defending my honour.”

He placed his hands on her hip. “Hmm, I was, wasn’t I?” he said softly. “I’m so good.”

She swatted him jokingly. “And humble,” she giggled. Then she yawned and pressed her nose into his pulse point. “You don’t really want to wait for the sunrise, do you?”

“It’s only a couple of hours away now…”

“Hugo!”

“I’m joking,” he chuckled. “Let’s go to bed. I’m knackered, too.”

She nodded and was about to stand up when he slid an arm under her legs and one behind her back and stood up with her in his arms.

“Hugo!” she whispered urgently, grabbing his neck. “Let me down.”

“No, no, I’m going to take you upstairs like this as a—oh bloody hell, we need to open the door.” He placed her back on the ground and she smiled and shook her head.

They tiptoed upstairs, took turns into the bathroom and finally made it to bed. Lily fell asleep before Hugo had even come back from the loo, knackered but happy.

***

Sunday morning arrived far too early for Lily’s liking, and the sun was already high in the sky when she tried to move her face away from the rays that filtered through the window, only to find herself pinned to the bed by Hugo’s arm.

She tried to push it up and away from her, but he didn’t even budge. She let out a whine and raised her arm up to cover her eyes.

Hugo groaned back at her. “Stop moving,” he mumbled. “You moved all night long…” For good measure, he pulled her to him and squeezed her to his chest. “You didn’t move that much last time I slept in your bed.”

She turned her head towards him and sighed. “You caged me in your arms for the whole night, last time,” she pointed out sleepily. “I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.”

He hummed his assent but didn’t reply and, when his breathing slowed down, Lily decided that that was a good moment to fall asleep again.

She was wrong, apparently, because there was a knock on the door and then a creak let them know that someone was walking into the room.

Hugo let her go immediately and rolled on his back, rubbing his eyes to try to put the trespasser into focus. Lily just kept her eyes closed and her hand on Hugo’s chest.

“You didn’t come back at ten last night, did you?”

“Oh Dad,” groaned Hugo.

There was a pause and then Uncle Ron said, “It looks like you did bump into each other on this bed.”

Hugo slid his arm from underneath her head and sat up. “She keeps moving around,” he said seriously. “I think she punched me at least twice.”

To Lily’s relief, Uncle Ron chuckled. “She’s small but she’s fierce.”

“And she wants to sleep a bit more, Uncle Ron,” groaned Lily, covering her head with a pillow.

“Oh come on,” said her uncle. “It’s almost ten; your aunt is dying to go to the beach, but wouldn’t leave until you’re at least up.” He stopped and lowered his voice. “And she forbade me to come and wake you up, so in case she asks, I didn’t do it.”

Lily moved the pillow away and looked at him with a disgruntled expression before screaming, “Aunt Hermione! Uncle Ron woke us up!” She grinned mischievously while Hugo laughed and Uncle Ron narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

“Ron!” came Aunt Hermione’s voice from downstairs. “What did I tell you?”

“But it’s almost ten, Hermione,” said Uncle Ron petulantly while Hugo lay back down next to her. “And they’re awake now.”

“Let them sleep, they’ll get up when they get up.”

Uncle Ron growled a, “Happy?” and when Lily giggled in reply, he just sighed and walked out. “I was just checking on them, Hermione…” Lily heard him say as he closed the door.

“We should really get up, though,” muttered Hugo, pulling her to him again. “It’s our last day at the beach; we don’t want to miss out on the sun, the sea, the beach…”

Lily groaned softly and pressed her face against his chest, stretching all her muscles and rounding her back under his hands. “Hmmkay,” she murmured, “just five more minutes.”

“Okay.”

***

The five minutes turned out to be twenty, but finally they both dragged themselves out of bed and, after a quick visit to the loo, went downstairs in their pyjamas, and ate a good strong breakfast while Aunt Hermione asked them everything about the night before.

Lily gave her a detailed, yet censored, account of their activities, from the castle, to the restaurant – “Thank you, Auntie! Everything was delicious!” – to the club, the beach, and the cottage. Then she asked how their evening had gone.

“It was truly exquisite,” said Aunt Hermione gently. “We had a lovely dinner in a beautiful restaurant that overlooked the sea, and then went for a walk on the beach before coming back home and sipping some Firewhisky in the garden.”

“Yes,” said Uncle Ron, smiling at Aunt Hermione for a moment before looking severely at Hugo and Lily. “And what time did you two come back?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder, she glanced askew at Hugo, but he was focusing his attention on his bowl of yogurt and fruit. “Five minutes after you did, I think…”

“Really?” asked Uncle Ron. “Because I heard talking and giggling at around three in the morning…”

“Interesting…” mumbled Lily.

Aunt Hermione rolled her eyes. “Leave them be, Ron,” she said. “They’re young. Remember when _we_ were eighteen? We were up all night.”

Uncle Ron looked at her as if she was crazy. “We were looking for Horcruxes and taking turns with the watch, Hermione.”

She waved a hand in the air. “And weren’t we up all night? Sometimes cuddling under a tree before Harry woke up?”

“Mum!” protested Hugo. “I don’t need to hear what you used to do with dad when you were young first thing in the morning.”

“Yes, we cuddled under a tree,” replied Uncle Ron, ignoring Hugo. “And then I married you. See? That’s normal, going from cuddling to being married.” He gestured towards Lily and Hugo. “They’re not going to marry, so they shouldn’t cuddle under a tree.”

“What—who—we didn’t—”

“There isn’t even a tree in the garden, Ron.”

“You know what I mean.”

“We didn’t cuddle, Uncle Ron,” said Lily, her cheeks on fire. “We were just talking!”

Uncle Ron gave her a pointed look, and for some reason Lily felt as if her head was spinning. He talked as if he had overheard some of their conversations. But their conversations in the garden had been absolutely innocuous. She wondered if they had walked past them on the beach as they talked about sex, but at that time they claimed to be already in bed.

Hugo placed a hand on her arm. “Dad, we were just talking,” he said tiredly. “Does that go against some kind of weird rules you’ve just made up?”

“No, of course it doesn’t,” said his mother sweetly. “Your father just doesn’t remember what it means to be young.”  

Uncle Ron grunted something, but Lily didn’t quite understand it.

“Shall we go and change?” said Hugo suddenly. “We’ll be only five minutes, then we can go to the beach.”

“Of course, of course,” said Aunt Hermione, as she cleared the table.

Hugo and Lily stood up and walked up the stairs in silence. And it was only when they reached their bedroom that Lily grabbed his arm and looked at Hugo with eyes wide. “What’s wrong with your dad?” she asked fretfully.

Hugo tried to smile reassuringly. “I bet it’s just because of this morning,” he said. “He always gets a bit embarrassed when people are too affectionate.”

“Like us?”

“Yeah, when he walked into the room and I was… We were lying pretty close one to the other,” Hugo whispered. “But I’m sure he’s going to forget about it before we even get back downstairs.”

Lily lowered her eyes. “You don’t think—”

“What?”

“He didn’t hear us talking about—”

“The S-E-X?”

She nodded.

“No, that’s out of the question,” he replied with a smile. “How could he? We were down at the beach. And if he did, believe me, he would just say it. He would take me apart and talk to me about sex and he would talk to you about contraception. That’s what he did with Rose and Scorpius.”

“Oh God.” Lily hid her face in her hands.

Hugo nodded sympathetically. “I know.”

“Alright, so… everything’s fine? He’s just being weird because we were sleeping one next to the other this morning.” She looked up at him, eyes wide.

He nodded again. “Relax,” he whispered, cupping her cheeks. “You look rather guilty with that little frown between your eyebrows.”

She glared at him half-heartedly but sighed and finally relaxed a little. “Okay.”

“Use the bathroom,” he said gently. “I’ll go after you do.”

She nodded and smiled and was careful to take no more than five minutes in there, when she went back to their room, Hugo was already wearing his swimming trunks and only needed to brush his teeth.

She made her way back downstairs, rummaging in her bag to find her sunglasses.

“What are you even saying, Ron?” sighed Aunt Hermione from the kitchen. “You were the one scoffing at me yesterday, when I suggested we changed our sleeping arrangements.”

“I wanted to sleep with my wife, thank you very much, Hermione,” growled Uncle Ron. “And all I’m saying is that they were awfully close.”

“So? And anyway Lily is lovely, I would feel lucky if she—”

“Hermione.”

“Ron, she’s your sister’s daughter.”

“Hermione, my sister married—”

“We’re ready,” said Hugo out loud, jumping the last two steps and landing in front of the kitchen door. “We can definitely go to the beach, now.”

Lily glared at him, but put on her brightest smile as she followed him and his family into the garden and then down the path that led to the beach.

***

Their second and last day in Penzance went on much faster than the first. They slept part of the morning in the shadow of the beach umbrella, they read, they played some Muggle card games that Lily had never played before – Exploding Snap was out of the question on a beach filled with Muggles.

They stayed at the beach for lunch, had a piece of pizza in a nearby bar, and Lily went back to napping a bit more in the afternoon, while Hugo and Uncle Ron went to play with a beach ball.

Lily and Aunt Hermione joined them in the water after a while, but Lily was too tired to swim all the way back to Battery Rocks Beach for more snorkelling, so she just wore Rose’s mask and swam lazily about, seeing more badly covered bottoms and hanging breasts than she cared for.

Hugo didn’t join her, but every now and then he tried to tackle her as she swam closer to him, and they always ended up drinking a lot of seawater and coughing until their lungs hurt. Laughing too, though, so Lily kept swimming close to him and pinching his arse when he least expected it.

By the time their shadows became longer, Lily was well tired once again, and so was everybody else. Uncle Ron seemed to have completely forgotten about his worries regarding Lily, Hugo, and whatever he thought the two of them had done.

They all went back to the cottage, changed, packed their few things and finally were ready to go out for dinner.

Nothing fancy that night, they had a Portkey to grab, it would have been a pity to throw up lobster all over the floor once they got home.

“I vote for pizza,” said Lily as they walked down the crowded high street in Penzance.

“We had that for lunch,” pointed out Aunt Hermione patiently. “Maybe we can have some sort of exotic food, something we don’t have very often.”

“Not Chinese,” said Hugo. “We get it sometimes from Uncle Harry’s ex-girlfriend.”

Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron exchanged a glance and sniggered. “Is it good?” asked Uncle Ron.

“Yeah, very good,” replied Lily. “And she gives me fortune cookies for free.”

There was more sniggering and whispers of, “Need to tell Ginny,” and “We should order some and take it to Grimmauld Place.”

Lily giggled and shook her head.

“What about sushi,” suggested Hugo. “We’re at the sea, so the fish is surely fresh, and we all like Japanese food, don’t we?”

Lily nodded thoughtfully. She did, and she didn’t get enough of that back in London.

“Sounds good to me,” said Uncle Ron.

“Me too,” agreed Aunt Hermione.

“Let’s go then,” said Hugo. “There’s a sushi place down the road, right?”

“If they didn’t close it in the past year, it must still be there,” said his mother.

They walked to the place, which was still there, fortunately. They had a lovely and relatively light dinner, and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione paid for them once more. Lily joked that she wanted to go on holiday with them every weekend, and Uncle Ron deadpanned that he didn’t earn enough for that.

It was already late that evening when they got the Portkey back to Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron’s house.

Lily fell asleep five minutes after she and Hugo got home.

She was so, so, so tired, and somehow incredibly happy.


	21. Chapter 21

***

Lily woke up relatively early on Monday morning. She felt awake and completely refreshed, which was weird since she had never felt as tired as she had been during that weekend in Penzance.

She lazily stretched her arms over her head and jumped down from her bed. She had slept remarkably well. No wonders there; she had been too tired not to sleep well. To be honest, she had been so knackered, she didn’t even remember if she had said goodnight to Hugo at all the night before.

Oh, even if she hadn’t, he surely wasn’t going to be crossed at her. He had been pretty knackered himself. She definitely knew he wasn’t crossed when she went to the kitchen and found a note from him waiting on the table. Just a, _Good morning, Lils!_ But it was enough to make her smile.

It lasted only a moment, though, because then she suddenly remembered what they were supposed to do now that they were back home. What she had asked Hugo to do in order to reply to the letter. What Hugo hadn’t taken more than five seconds to agree to.

Suddenly her smile disappeared, replaced by a much more fretful expression.

She hid her face in her hands. God. She honestly felt as if she was really, slowly, dangerously falling in love. Something that was different and so much scarier than having a crush on her flatmate. But she couldn’t yield to that feeling. She knew she couldn’t. It was out of the question. Completely out of the question. Did she really want to complicate things? Did she really want to have her heart breaking when he turned her down? Did she really want him to look at her with pity when he told her that he preferred Marie’s company to hers? No, she didn’t.

And it didn’t matter if that weekend had been so _lovely_. If it had almost felt as if she was away with her boyfriend and his family rather than—

“Oh bloody hell,” she muttered. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been away with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione and Hugo before! Hello! Wake up, Lily!” She growled out loud – luckily, she was home alone – and knocked her forehead against the table.

She sighed. Surely the fact that the two of them were going to have sex – anal sex, not just any kind of sex (and God! She was going to hex him if he joked about it “not counting as sex”) – would have worsened whatever she felt.

She needed to do some of that yoga that Auntie Luna always did in the morning. Or some kind of meditation. She needed to go away for a while, to distract herself with something else. She needed to repeat to herself that Hugo didn’t feel like that for her; he was naturally gentle with every person on the planet, he hugged all of their cousins, he always made a lovely company, everybody loved him.

And it didn’t really matter if he had almost kissed her on that beach. He was drunk; she was drunk. Had it happened at all? Probably it hadn’t. Probably it was all in Lily’s head. Like everything else. Like the butterflies in her stomach. They didn’t really exist. It was all in her head.

She straightened her shoulders and let her hands fall back to the table.

Yes, how silly of her. She had just been exposed to his affectionate ways for a longer time than she had ever been in all her life. That was all. And she had imagined that she… and he…

She laughed out loud. She was so silly. Honestly.

She poured herself a big bowl of cereal, and decided not to think about Hugo for the rest of the day.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

***

Lily was a bit surprised to have forgotten that her mother wasn’t at work that day. She had tried to open the Quidditch Correspondent’s office with the usual cheerfulness and only managed to bump back and blink in surprise.

“Isn’t she away with your father?”

Lily turned to look at Derek’s smiling face.

“Wow,” he said softly. “If possible, you look even more beautiful than usual.”

She smiled gently at him. “What? Don’t be silly, Derek,” she stammered. “I’m… I’m just a bit tanned. More tanned than usual… That’s all. And I’m afraid it’ll go away before our next date.”

He smiled back at her, hopefully finding her babbling utterly cute instead of plain pathetic. “Well, you look beautiful to me whatever colour you are,” he said sweetly. “So, how was Cornwall?”

“Oh, it was absolutely gorgeous,” she gushed. “I wanted to tell everything about it to my mum, and I completely forgot that she’s away with my dad, as you rightfully pointed out.” She bit her bottom lip and looked at him. “I could tell you, but I don’t want to bore you out of your wits.”

He looked at her as if she was mad. “You could never bore me, Lily,” he said calmly. “I actually really like to listen to you.”

She licked her lips thoughtfully. She had found a good fifteen letters that had piled up in Lavender’s office in the past two days, she had to get on with them as soon as possible, but she had also just gotten back from the beach, she really didn’t want to get back to work yet. Moreover, she needed to ease back into her routine, because it had only been a two-day holiday but to her it had felt like a month; she didn’t want to shock herself by diving head first into work again.

“If you have time now we can go for a quick coffee—no, too hot—for an ice-cream? I know Florean Fortescue’s is open in the morning,” she said softly. “And I can tell you everything on the way and back.”

His smiled brightened up. “I have time now.” He stretched a hand towards her and she smiled back at him as she took it.

***

Instead of going back home and having some kind of unhealthy lunch – because the ice-cream had not been lunch, it’d been more like a second breakfast – Lily Apparated in Victoire and Teddy’s little garden.

The morning walk to the ice-cream parlour and back with Derek had gone well, she had told him everything that she could tell him, while she sensibly omitted some details: like their sleeping arrangement or Hugo’s horrible ex-friends or their almost kiss. He had looked very interested, especially when she had confessed her newfound love for snorkelling. He didn’t exactly know what that was, but he told her that he would love to try it, and Lily suggested that he tagged along next time they headed to the beach.

He was so happy, he couldn’t stop smiling all the way back to the newsroom, where they had said goodbye, exchanged a chaste kiss on their cheeks and parted ways.

But now Lily didn’t want to go to her empty flat and spend all her time thinking about Hugo and what they were supposed to do one of those evenings. So, she headed to Victoire’s for a nice chat and to check on Remus.

Victoire was in the garden, too. Reading a magazine while Remus slept peacefully in a pretty cradle nearby. Aunt Fleur was perched over the cradle and seemed to fuss terribly about something, but since she was talking in French, Lily didn’t quite grasp what it was that she was talking about.

Victoire raised her eyes from the magazine when she heard the pop of Apparition. A smile painted her face as she spotted Lily. “Wow!” she said, closing the magazine in her lap. “Who are you, stranger? Someone coming from some tropical island?”

Aunt Fleur looked up from the cradle too and she smiled at Lily. “You look gorgeous, Lily,” she said brightly. “Look at you, all tanned!”

Lily grinned and shrugged a shoulder. “Thank you, but Hugo is much more tanned than me,” she said. “He’s becoming Fred’s colour.”

“Yes, but ‘e plays Quidditch all day long in ze sun,” Aunt Fleur reminded her. She covered Remus a bit more and went to sit near the cradle. “Tell us everyzing about your ‘oliday.”

She sat next to Victoire and did just that. It was the second time that day that she recounted the events of the weekend, but she noticed that she could have done that over and over again if necessary. She omitted some parts with them too, though.

“We always go snorkelling in France,” said Victoire. “I can’t believe Dom didn’t take you back in June.”

“She took ‘er shopping all ze time,” pointed out Aunt Fleur.

Victoire shook her head. “Of course,” she giggled. “You and Dom probably have more clothes than the rest of the family put together.”

Lily rolled her eyes half-heartedly. Victoire was probably right. “Well, anyway,” she went on, “we had fun in Cornwall.”

“It sounds like it was fun,” said Victoire. “Sounds a bit tiring, though. I’d pay to be able to go to bed at ten and you stayed up—voluntarily—until four? God! These youngsters!”

Aunt Fleur giggled at that and Lily couldn’t do much but join her.

“Anyway, dear old Vicky,” said Lily. “Can you believe that Hugo wanted to stay up all night to see the sunrise? I managed to discourage him after we got home.”

“Hmm, yes,” hummed Victoire. “That sounds like something that Hugo would do. Staying up all night to look at the sunrise. It’s… I don’t know, romantic, I guess.” Victoire’s eyes shone with mischief as she looked at Lily. “Has he already done that with his girlfriend?”

Lily pushed her jealous feelings down at the pit of her stomach and tried to summon her most neutral tone. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend,” she replied lightly. “Marie is just a friend.”

“That’s not what Rose said,” giggled Victoire. “And James said that she’s quite pretty. Maybe we should double date, or triple date or quadruple date? With you and Derek, Hugo and Marie, and Rose and Scorpius…”

Lily shrugged a shoulder, trying not to look too irritated with the idea of having to double date with Hugo and Marie. “Yeah,” she said. “We’re a bit busy right now, so—”

“Oh God! Not right now for sure,” sighed Victoire. “I don’t even have time to wash my hair. I managed today after almost a week.” She looked at Aunt Fleur. “Merci, Maman.”

Aunt Fleur smiled at her, but didn’t reply. “Are you staying for lunch, Lily?” she asked. “We’re ‘aving chicken salad.”

Lily smiled brightly. “Thank you, Auntie, I’d love that.”

***

She stayed for a bit of the afternoon, too. She held Remus right after Victoire had breastfed him; he looked up at her with big blue eyes, and changed the colour of his hair to match hers, making her sigh in awe. Then he fell asleep in her arms, looking suddenly very much like a doll.

“He likes you, Lily,” Victoire said gently as she sat next to her. “He copies only the ones he really likes.” She placed a hand on her son’s forehead. “He never copies Louis.”

“Victoire!” said Auntie Fleur, delightfully scandalised.

Lily and Victoire sniggered softly. “Now he looks like a mini Hugo,” said Lily. “Same hair, same eyes, and same freckles.”

“Or a mini you,” replied Victoire. “Or Rose, or Molly, or Lucy. Or Auntie Ginny.”

“Or a mini Grandma Molly, or Granddad Arthur.”

“He’s not wrinkly enough for that,” giggled Victoire.

“Victoire! Mais tu es bien méchante, ma fille!”

Victoire rolled her eyes, and Lily didn’t have to ask for a translation to know that Aunt Fleur was chastising her daughter for her not-so-nice comments.

Victoire shrugged a shoulder and smiled before standing up and taking her son delicately in her arms. “It’s naptime for us,” she said sweetly. “Oh yes, it is. Mummy is tired too, mon bébé.”

Lily stood from the couch. “Do you talk to him in French, Victoire?”

“Sometimes,” she replied. “Mum does that all the time.”

“Bilingual babies are more intelligent,” replied Auntie Fleur distractedly.

Victoire winked at Lily. “Even though there are exceptions that I won’t name.” She giggled when her mother glared at her, but Lily was giggling too and Aunt Fleur just sighed and waved her hand as if to dismiss the nasty comments towards her youngest children.

“We’ll see you soon, Lily,” said Victoire.

“Yes, you still need to tell me when the baby shower is,” she reminded her.

“Oh the baby shower,” she sighed. “I wished I had time for that.” She walked towards the stairs and yawned. “I’m always so busy and tired.” She turned to wave at her. “See you in a bit, Lils.”

“Have a nice nap, you two.”

Victoire grinned and finally disappeared up the stairs with silent steps and humming a lullaby.

“Lily,” said Aunt Fleur when they were finally alone. “I zink zat a baby shower is a fantastic idea.”

“I know, right?” she grinned.

“Yes, but Victoire is definitely too tired for eet.” She smiled and added, “I’d like to organise one zough.”

Lily’s grin became even wider. “Oh, that’s lovely, Auntie, I can help!”

Aunt Fleur smiled warmly. “Would you? Zat is really sweet, Lily. Why don’t you come for dinner tomorrow evening and we can discuss it?”

“To Shell Cottage?”

“Yes, you and ‘Ugo, maybe?”

“I’ll tell him,” she said, nodding enthusiastically, “thank you, Auntie.” She kissed her on the cheek and walked towards the fireplace.

Auntie Fleur smiled. “No, zank _you_ , Lily.”

***

“I’ve scored a free dinner tomorrow for you and me,” said Lily when Hugo walked into the flat that evening. “You can start thanking me… now.”

She looked up from the letters and grinned at him, but her smile faded away quickly. Hugo looked sweaty and tired, and Lily felt suddenly guilty that she hadn’t prepared anything for dinner and hadn’t even thought about it. She was just waiting for him to come home and feed her like every other day.

He smiled, though, and made his way to the kitchen table that she had covered with her letters. “A free dinner for two? Hmm… what’s the trick?”

“I need to help Auntie Fleur organising a surprise baby shower for Victoire and Remus,” she said, shrugging a shoulder, “so she invited us over for dinner tomorrow to discuss the details.”

Hugo cocked his head, his face undecipherable. “I see,” he said. “A surprise baby shower, that’s sweet of you and Aunt Fleur.”

“I know right? And we need that, don’t we? We’ve bought the present already; we need to give it to her before Remus is off to Hogwarts.”

Hugo smiled. “That’s right,” he said thoughtfully. “Tomorrow, uh?”

She nodded. “Yeah, you don’t sound too convinced though, am I right?”

He smiled again. “I’m convinced,” he said calmly. “I love Aunt Fleur’s cooking and I haven’t seen them in a while…”

“But?”

He shrugged a shoulder, slowly, as if he was trying to take some time before answering. “I went to the shops today,” he said, taking out a paper bag from his Quidditch bag.

Lily waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t. “And you bought something that needs to be eaten tomorrow? Can we eat it tonight maybe?”

“No, I…” He placed it on the table and nodded towards it. “I… just got something for us.”

Lily looked from Hugo to the bag, and finally grabbed it, drew it to her and opened it.

“I got… you know…”

Lily’s eyes widened a little as she took out a bottle of lube.

“I mean, I have that in my room—oh, don’t look at me like that! I’m a teenager, you know—but I got… I got a new one for you.” He smiled awkwardly. “It’s scented and it doubles up as a massage oil… I mean, I can give you a massage if you want to…”

Lily swallowed and put it back into the bag. The next thing she drew out was a packet of scented and colourful candles.

“To create a bit of atmosphere? I didn’t know what you liked…”

The last item was a small, cylindrical, little piece of steel. “Where did you get these things?” she asked, pushing it back into the bag and feeling herself blush furiously.

Hugo smiled awkwardly. “A small shop near Knockturn Alley,” he mumbled in reply. “I went there with James and Fred once. It’s really small… but the shopkeeper knew quite a bit on the subject and—”

“You asked about anal sex?” she gasped. How could he be _that_ bold?

“I said I wanted to try it with my girlfriend,” he mumbled. “And that we’ve never done it before… And… and he suggested those items. I told him you were tiny and he gave me the smallest butt plug he could find, which still looks intimidatingly big, I know, but like—”

“Don’t say butt plug!” she cut him off. “God, how can you say butt plug like that?”

He furrowed his brow. “You just said it twice.”

She groaned and hid her face in her hands. Thinking about it was one thing, talking about it was another, but saying butt plug out loud and holding one was quite the other once more. Bloody hell, this was embarrassing! She knew that she was just going to lie there on her stomach and let him do anything he wanted without moving and especially without looking nor talking.

“Anyway,” he went on slowly. “He said that it really helps, so that’s why I bought it. But like… we don’t need to use it.” He swallowed. “He said to use plenty of lube, though.”

Lily raised her head and looked at him, eyes narrowed. “Are you… are you going to… to enjoy it?” she asked, wondering why she was asking that at all. What a stupid question!

“I hoped we both would,” he whispered, licking his lips. “You don’t want—”

“Yes,” she hurried to reply, “I mean… no. No, I mean yes. But we’re not…”

“Yes?”

She scrunched up her eyes and rubbed them with the heel of her hand. “Nothing’s going to change, right?” she said, not looking at him. “It’s like when you went down on me, or I gave you head, or when you blindfolded me, right? Nothing changed, right? We’re still going to be the best of friends and it’s not going to be awkward and all that, right?”

There was a soft chuckle at that, and Lily glared up at him because he was laughing in such a delicate moment. He was looking at her so lovingly, though, that her, “What?” came out more confused than anything.

“We’re the best of friends?”

She melted a little at that. “Yeah,” she replied gently. “I think you really are my best-friend. Well, you definitely know more about me than anybody else…”

“That doesn’t mean being best-friends,” he pointed out. “That means that we live together and you have a tendency to overshare.”

She looked at him for a long moment before finding a good reply to that. “Okay,” she said, “true. But I think you know everything about me because I love to share things with you. I love to talk to you, I love to get your insightful opinion on my silly problems, I love to spend time with you, and I love to do things with you. Is that better?”

He looked so sweet when he smiled and nodded. “I do, too,” he confessed, “all these things.” He walked around the table and crouched near her chair, cupping her cheeks. “And nothing is ever going to change between us,” he whispered. Then he licked his lips again and took a deep breath. “Unless we want to,” he added in a breath.

“I don’t,” she said quickly. “Never. It would break my heart if we stopped being friends.”

He smiled, but his smile was almost a sad one – and Lily couldn’t fathom why, she had just said that she wanted to be friends with him forever – and he seemed to wanting to add something else, but instead he just nodded and stood up. He went to the kitchen counter and washed an apple. “So, I thought,” he said softly, “that we could have done it tomorrow.” He bit into the apple. “Just because we need to reply to that letter sooner or later, and tonight we could just… well, get to know those items. You know? Not doing anything, I mean, just reading labels and instructions and prepare ourselves.”

“Right,” said Lily. “So I shall Floo Call Auntie Fleur and tell her that we can’t go tomorrow night because we are going to have anal sex.”

Hugo snorted and shook his head. “Okay. I get it. Wednesday.”

“Wednesday.”

“It’s a date,” said Hugo. He turned around and walked towards the bathroom. “I’ll take a shower. What do you want to eat?”

Lily pushed all the letters into a pile. “You don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll make dinner tonight.”

“How can I not worry, then?” he shouted from the corridor.

“Dork!” she shouted back.

***

Well, it wasn’t one of his healthy and perfectly cooked dinners, but it was edible and it was nice. She was more than a little crestfallen when he told her that he had had sandwiches for lunch as well, and she didn’t quite believe him when he said that they were nowhere as nice as hers, but after all, she was sure that nobody topped their fillings with crushed crisps like she did.

“You even put salad all around them,” said Hugo, touched.

“And mayonnaise on the bottom and on the top of the turkey,” she pointed out.

“They’re good, Lils,” he said gently. “I swear.”

She smiled, feeling a bit more relaxed, and bit down on her own second sandwich. “I found fifteen new letters today,” she sighed. “If they keep coming like this I won’t even have time to take a nap or sleep until midday anymore.”

“Ha, ha,” he deadpanned, shaking his head. “How many have you replied to?”

“Five, maybe six.”

“I’ll help you with the other ones,” he said calmly. “Is there any letter that needs… you know…”

“Special attention?” she murmured, unable to keep her mouth from quirking upwards at the thought. “Not amongst the ones I read, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” he hurried to say before blushing profusely. “I mean, you know I’ll help you whatever they ask…”

“I know,” she said. “You’re a good man, Mr Hugo Weasley.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Can you say it without the sarcasm?”

She grinned and giggled, then she stood up and went to him. He looked at her with a little frown as she tried to push him back from the table and sat on his lap. “You’re the best,” she said, as she closed her arms around his neck and kissed his forehead. “The most wonderful.” She kissed his nose. “The most fantastic.” She kissed his cheek. “Man I’ve ever met.” She kissed the other one. “Better?”

He hugged her to his chest and dipped his nose into her hair. “Much,” he sighed.

***

There were no particularly difficult letters and they finished in a couple of hours. Lily was glad to have managed to do everything she had to do for the day, not so glad when she noticed that Hugo had fallen asleep while she was copying the last letter.

He must have been really tired and she had just taken advantage of his good heart. As she always did. She felt rather guilty at that moment.

She pressed her toes in his thigh and he woke up with a little surprised start.

“It’s late,” she said seriously. “Go to bed, I’m almost done here anyway.”

He rubbed his face with his hands. “You sure?” he murmured.

“Yes. Go to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

He nodded and stood up. “Night, Lils.”

“Night, Hugh.”

***

Mike was well impressed with her promptness in replying to all those letters. Not that he said anything, nor he made any face or gave her a thumbs up when she went to drop off her replies, but he must have been impressed.

Honestly. She was on fire. She would be surprised if he wasn’t impressed.

“These are fifteen letters,” she said cheerfully. “For how long am I covered, Mike?”

He tilted his head to look at something under his desk and looked back at her. “The whole week,” he replied, “except for the weekend.”

She nodded. It was good to know, now she could focus on other things without feeling the looming threat of not having enough letters to publish. Other things such as the baby shower.

Even though, she wouldn’t think about it until that evening, and nothing could distract her from replying to as many letters as she could that day. She had found nine in Lavender’s office and decided that she would reply to them all, nine meant at least two more days, three if she asked Mike to stretch.

But she wasn’t going to ask that, au contraire, she had plenty of letters. Plenty of people were writing to her and she was proudly replying to all of them. Well, most of them, but that would change after tomorrow’s night. Then she would be able to reply to all of them. Even _that_ one.

She waved goodbye to Mike and finally got out of the printing room, decided to go back home and work hard on the letters since she wouldn’t have time to do that in the evening.

She was actually so decided to go back home to work hard and reply to the letters, that she really had no clue how she ended up in Dorset, walking into the Puddlemere Stadium with her pass held proudly in front of her face and climbing up the terraces to the highest spot she could find.

It had been the spur of the moment. She didn’t even have sun cream with her – not that she probably needed it, she felt confident that she was tanned enough not to burn – she only had the letters, a fistful of Galleons, and a quill to write her replies with.

She sat there for quite a while, staring at Hugo flying around, and hitting Bludgers with such force that Lily held her breath every time those balls flew close to someone. She was sure Hugo could kill any of his fellow players if he only wanted.

Maggie was the first one who noticed Lily this time. She waved at her and smiled, and then elbowed Julia in the ribs and nodded towards Lily. They both waved then, and Lily waved back.

Julia hurried to fly over to the other players, but instead of going to tell Hugo that she was there, she went to tell Marie. Marie looked at her and a smile tugged at her lips as if she was happy to see her. She waved, but with less verve than Maggie and Julia.

By the time all three girls had acknowledged her, though, the whole group of trainees noticed her and Lily could see Hugo finally flying to her.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” he said with a grin as he stopped his broomstick near her. “What are you doing here?”

“I have tons of letters to reply to,” she admitted, shrugging a shoulder, “and I know I’ll just fall asleep if I stay home.”

“Are you staying for lunch?”

Lily didn’t know why she thought he hadn’t listened to a word she had said. She glanced at the players still playing at his back. “I don’t know, Hugo…”

“Oh, come on,” he said, flying lower. “I found a wonderful place where to have lunch last week. I’ll take you there.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to disturb you and Marie,” she said and complimented herself for her calm and collected tone of voice.

“What? No, no. Just you and me,” he hurried to say. “It’s a secret place.” He winked, but his knuckles were turning all white from the way he was grasping his broom.

“Alright,” she finally agreed. “But now go back to the game. You’re distracting me.”

He grinned even more and flew back to the other players. Lily looked at him saying something to McLaggen and then to Marie and someone else, there were a few nods, and Marie looked pointedly at her, but then they had to focus on the Bludgers and the Quaffle once more, and Lily finally started reading the first letter.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I am the most horrible person in the world. No, really. Please, don’t tell me the usual, “No, you’re not. Don’t worry, these things happen.” Because these things don’t usually happen. Like never. Only to me!_
> 
> _But let me explain: I killed my boyfriend’s goldfish. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose, but I was going to put some fresh water in its tank and everything just fell to the floor. And of course I could have still saved the fish if it wasn’t for the fact that it fell on the red rug that my boyfriend has in his bathroom and I stepped on it. Killing it. Completely._
> 
> _Now, my boyfriend is away until the end of August – and he left only yesterday! Damn it, I am a good for nothing! – and I cannot find a fish that is just like the one he had. Anywhere. Of course, it wasn’t exactly a regular goldfish, it was a rare Nepalese god-fish. But anyway… long story short, they don’t have it anywhere in England. He brought it back from Nepal._
> 
> _How do I break the news to him nicely? What do I say? Should I write him a letter? Should I wait until he’s back? Should I disappear from the face of earth and never come back?_
> 
> _Help! I have a feeling that he’s going to break up with me as soon as I tell him about his adored Pisces – that was its name._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Desperate Fish Killer_

***

The secret place that Hugo had talked about wasn’t exactly a pub or a bar or a canteen. It was definitely secret though, because it took them a good twenty minutes of hiking into the wood to get there.

“We’re here,” said Hugo finally as the path that they had followed led to a clearing.

“Here where?” asked Lily, looking around herself. “Where’s the place where we get the food?”

He grinned at her, as if he found her extremely fun. “My backpack,” he said. “Come, it’s down there.” He pointed towards another smaller wood where the quiet rustling of the water could be heard.

“I thought you said we were here already.”

“Almost,” he said calmly. “Stop complaining and enjoy the scenery.”

“I’m not complaining!” she complained. She rolled her eyes – luckily, he was walking in front of her – and sighed.

The rustling of water was caused by a wide river that flew lazily down a little slope. There was a narrow bridge hanging over it and covered in moss and she stared as Hugo walked up to it and turned to offer her his hand.

She looked from Hugo to the bridge. “You’re joking.”

“Why?” He grinned even more broadly now. “It’s quiet and it’s beautiful and I swear it’s solid.”

“It looks dirty,” she pointed out. “I’m wearing shorts, Hugo; I can already see gigantic bugs crawling up my legs.”

“I’ll protect you,” he smiled. “Come on, and if it’s too gross for you, you can sit on my lap.”

She looked at him, feeling as if that was just an excuse for him to get her to get closer to him. She quite liked that idea, she thought, before shaking her head and waking up from yet another stupid reverie. She finally grabbed his hand, trying hard not to grin at him, and he guided her on the unstable-looking little bridge. He stopped right in the middle and took off his backpack before sitting on the edge with his feet dangling above the water.

She sighed and copied him, sitting right next to him. “It’s wet,” she pointed out, “and kind of slimy. If my shorts are all dirty—”

“I’ll spell them clean,” he said brightly. “Here you go,” he said, handing her a sandwich. “I only got one each; do you think that’ll be enough for you?”

She rolled the sandwich in her hands. It was big and heavy. “I’m sure it’s more than enough,” she admitted. “Where did you get them?”

“Brought them from home.”

“Oh,” she said, looking down at it before she tried to hand it over to him once more. “Listen, I’ll eat later.”

“Don’t be silly.” He pushed it back gently.

“I’m not,” she insisted. “You brought them for you. You need them. I didn’t do much; you played Quidditch as if your life depended on it.”

He chuckled, and started to unwrap his own sandwich. “I won’t die because I only eat one sandwich,” he said calmly. “I always leave some and feed the ducks anyway.”

She looked at him unconvinced, but capitulated. She was going to leave some too anyway, it was just so huge, and Hugo could have it. She unwrapped it and bit into it. It was delicious.

“Do you like it?”

She nodded and chewed. “Yummy,” she said, her mouth still full. “What’s in here?”

Hugo laughed. “I meant the place, but there are all the leftovers that I could find in our fridge,” he said. “Tomatoes, turkey, eggs, salad, tuna, mayonnaise, and peanut butter.”

Lily swallowed. “So, I’m basically eating a protein sandwich,” she said slowly. “It’s tasty.” She took another bite. “And the place is beautiful.”

He smiled at her. “You can come every day,” he suggested. “We can work on the letters, have lunch together, enjoy the calm…”

“Aren’t your friends going to get jealous?” she asked slowly. “Marie kind of glared at me earlier on.”

“Please,” he dismissed her worries. “I was supposed to go with them to the canteen, but I would have eaten my sandwiches and the lady there always glares at me when I do. This is much nicer.”

She turned to look at the clear water under their feet. A family of ducks swam lazily about. “How did you find this place?”

“So you like it,” he said brightly. “I knew you would.”

She smiled, but kept looking at the ducks.

“I took a hike once after lunch, just to do something different from the usual chat with the guys,” he said, “and I got here.” He nodded towards the water. “It’s the River Piddle itself, you know?”

“I didn’t,” she said, turning to look at Hugo. “It’s very picturesque.”

“It is,” he agreed. “And if you keep going down that direction.” He pointed in front of them where the river bent sharply to its right. “There’s a natural pool where you can swim around. The water is so clear.”

“Isn’t it cold?” she asked worriedly.

“Just a little,” he said, shrugging a shoulder. “I only dipped a hand, though, I’m sure that once you get used to it, it’s not that cold.”

“Or it’s still super cold and you could definitely die,” she replied.

“Is that a, ‘No, Hugo, I’ll never come swimming with you in the river.’?”

“Why? Where you asking?” she grinned. “And how can you not be too tired to swim?”

“Lily, please.” He waved a hand in front of her face. “You know I’m super powerful and super strong.”

“And super humble, I told you that already.”

He chuckled and so did she.

“I can’t finish this sandwich,” she said, covering the remaining half in tinfoil. “You can have it.” She handed it over to him and ignored his protestations and his accusations of doing it just to be nice.

“No, I also need to keep going with the letters,” she said, taking out her quill and parchment. “What do you reply to someone who has just killed her boyfriend’s god-fish.”

“You mean goldfish,” he said, biting on her sandwich.

“No, no, I mean god-fish,” she replied. “It’s a kind of fish from Nepal. She killed it while her boyfriend was away, and now she doesn’t know how to tell him. Should she write to him? Floo Call him? Wait for him to get back from his month abroad so she can tell him in person?”

“She killed his fish?” he asked in disbelief. “How did she—”

“Here.” She handed him the letter and he placed it on his lap as he finished the sandwich.

When he was done, he laughed heartily at the poor girl’s misadventures. “Well, she got herself in quite the situation,” he chuckled.

Lily giggled too. Poor Desperate Fish Killer! “So, how is she supposed to go about and tell her boyfriend? Should she write to him? Wait for him to be back? Floo Call him?”

Hugo cleaned his mouth and took a sip of water from his tumbler. “Hmm,” he started. “I’m pretty sure that she shouldn’t write to him. I mean, if it was an important kind of fish, it’s better if she gave him the news face to face.”

“So Floo Call him?” suggested Lily. “Don’t you think that that would ruin his holiday… work… whatever he’s doing far away from home?”

“Yes, I think that, too.” He smiled. “I think she should wait for when he comes home. Maybe she can do something to make the blow less hard on him.”

“Like what?” she asked, taking notes.

“Like buying him a present, or making dinner from scratch, or organising something when he’s back.” Hugo shrugged his shoulder. “But honestly, she killed a fish, after all, nothing too big. I mean, if it was his Crup or a Kneazle I would suggest she organised a weekend gateway, but a fish…”

“A god-fish,” pointed out Lily.

“A god-fish, alright,” he agreed. “I wonder what a god-fish does.”

Lily folded the parchment and shrugged a shoulder. “Probably other fish build temples to him and they worship him and make sacrifices in his name,” she said.

Hugo looked at her for a long moment, probably trying to decide if she was serious. When her eyes wrinkled in a smile, he laughed out loud.

Then he stood up and offered her a hand. “Do you have time to explore the river a bit more?” he asked her gently.

“You’re the one who needs to be back at the stadium,” she reminded him as she took his hand. “I have time to go wherever you ask me to go.”

He smiled, pulling her to him. “Good to know,” he whispered.

***

Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur’s house was Lily’s favourite place amongst all the houses of all her uncles and aunts. It was nice and quiet and the view was absolutely breath-taking. Especially in summertime, when Auntie Fleur set the table outside and they ate right on the beach, with floating candles all around them and in the background the sloshing of the waves on the sand.

Auntie Fleur’s delicious cooking, a delightful melange of British and French cuisine, was another one of the perks of being invited at theirs for a meal. Thus, making Lily extremely excited about that evening.

She wore her white dress over her bikini – she was pretty certain that they would at least take a dip in the sea either right before or a few hours after dinner – and grabbed the ice-cream bowl that Hugo had reminded her to buy at Florean Fortescue’s that afternoon.

They used the Floo to get to Shell Cottage, and once in Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur’s living room, they were both engulfed by the strong arms of Uncle Bill for a tight, loving embrace.

“Hmm,” he said as he squeezed them both in his arms. “My favourite redheads.”

Lily giggled as she hugged him back, while Hugo patted his back in the most manly way he could muster in that awkward position.

When Uncle Bill let them go, he looked from one to the other. “You,” he said to Lily, “need to tell me when I can start reading your articles. And you.” He looked at Hugo. “Look at you! What happened to your arms? How can these be this big?” He squeezed Hugo’s upper arms and Hugo chuckled and tried to wriggle free of him.

“Uncle Bill,” he protested half-heartedly. “They’re not any bigger than when I started training.”

“You’re joking, right?” said Uncle Bill. “You’re as tall as your father and with the same muscular mass as your Uncle Charlie.” He wrapped an arm around Lily’s shoulder and pulled her to him, but kept looking at Hugo. “I bet all the girls are flocking around him, am I right?” he said, loud enough for Hugo to hear him.

Lily looked at him, too. Hugo was staring at her with eyes slightly wide. “Yes,” she replied calmly, “all the girls, Uncle Bill, he has to beat them away with a stick.”

Uncle Bill seemed to find that hilarious, because he laughed. Lily didn’t, but she smiled as Hugo rolled his eyes.

“That is so not true,” he growled.

“Just because there are only three girls who are training with you,” said Lily, her tone almost accusatorily. “If you had any other normal job where you came into contact with more people, you would agree that all the girls like you.”

Uncle Bill laughed again. “Exactly,” he said, faking a stern tone. “You tell him, Lily.”

She shrugged a shoulder and gave Hugo a tight-lipped smile, and he looked darkly back at her, as if she had just accused him to be a slut. She hadn’t, though. She had just stated the truth.

“Oh, but you’re ‘ere,” said Auntie Fleur, appearing on the door of the living room, and looking incredibly graceful even with flour in her hair. “‘Ugo! But look at you!”

She went to him and kissed his cheeks fiercely three times, tilting her head back to look at him. “You’re so ‘andsome!”

Lily shrugged a shoulder again and mouthed to him, “All the girls.”

He blushed as he looked back at Auntie Fleur and tried to change the subject. “Thank you for having us, Auntie,” he said. “We brought you some ice-cream.” He gave Lily a pointed look and suddenly she was aware that she was holding onto the bowl with all her forces.

“Yes, here,” she said, handing it to Auntie Fleur.

“Zank you, my sweet darlings,” she said. “Dinner will be in ‘alf an ‘our. Why don’t you relax a bit?”

“I’ll help you with the table,” offered Lily.

“Oh, Uncle Bill ‘as already taken care of zat,” she replied airily, looking lovingly at Uncle Bill. “Why don’t you go and take a swim? I’ll call you when eet’s ready.”

Lily nodded and grinned. “Surprisingly, I am wearing my bikini,” she giggled. “The one I got in France. Uncle Ron didn’t want me to wear it when I was in Penzance. He wanted me to go and change.”

“Men,” said Auntie Fleur, rolling her eyes a little. She disappeared into the kitchen again, leaving the three of them in the living room.

“Shall we go?” asked Uncle Bill. “I wouldn’t mind a dip either. Especially after today.”

“Rough day?” asked Hugo.

Uncle Bill nodded. “It’s always a rough day when a Malfoy comes to the bank,” he sighed.

Lily chortled with laughter. “Rose wouldn’t be too happy to hear that, Uncle Bill.”

He walked towards the door and opened it, letting them walk ahead of him and towards the beach. “Because she doesn’t have to take care of Narcissa Malfoy’s vault and all her tantrums when she comes into my office,” he grunted. “Today, she wanted all her Galleons to be transferred into a smaller vault, but only the ones that she’d been depositing since 2015, not the others, and I had to look for an old portrait of herself and her deceased husband that she claimed she had placed somewhere in the vault.” He rolled his eyes, stopped near the sea and took off his shirt. “In the end, I had to call Andromeda and she said that the portrait had been destroyed during the War. But of course she wouldn’t believe even her own sister…”

Lily shrugged off her dress and giggled as they walked towards the sea. “She’s a funny old lady, Uncle Bill.”

“She’s a pain in the arse,” he replied none-too-nicely. They dipped their toes into the warm water. “Hmm, this is nice,” he said before turning to look at Hugo. “I’ll race you to that rock and back,” he added with a grin. “Let’s see if you can beat your old uncle.” He turned to Lily. “Will you tell us who wins, Lily?”

“What? Why can’t I race you, too?” She folded her arms across her chest, irritated by his sexism.

“Do you want to?” asked Hugo with a grin.

She looked at the dark sea and the far, far away rock. “Okay, I’ll tell you who wins,” she sighed. She advanced into the warm water and crouched down until she was sitting on the sand and the water reached well over her shoulders.

“Tell us when, Lily,” said Uncle Bill, stretching his arms over his head in a quick warm up.

“Get ready,” she said, and the two men straightened up and stared at the rock. “Set.”

“I’m going to trash you,” said Uncle Bill.

“You wish, old man.”

“Go!”

They ran forward, raising a wall of water that drenched Lily’s hair completely. She sighed and looked as they dove into the water and both swam with mighty arm strokes towards the rock. She tried to relax a bit, lying as far as she could without having to dip her chin.

They were back before she could even really relax, though, still raising far more water than Lily deemed necessary. Uncle Bill seemed to be the fastest of the two, but Hugo picked up his pace right before they got to their starting point, winning of probably one or two seconds.

“Yes,” he cried, splashing water all around him. “Ah!” He laughed as Uncle Bill pounced on him, grabbed him around his waist and threw him in the water.

“You, little bugger,” he laughed, pushing him under the water once again when he re-emerged to breathe. “Haven’t your parents told you to respect your elders and let your Uncle Bill win?”

Hugo was laughing when he emerged again, but Uncle Bill threw him in the water once more, and Lily just stared at the ridiculous, but very joyful, scene.

Then suddenly, Hugo didn’t emerge straight away, but instead Uncle Bill was dragged under the water and they started trying to drown each other in the most puerile way they could muster, laughing and spraying each other all the way.

Lily lay on her back and closed her eyes, relaxing in the warm water as Hugo and Uncle Bill had fun. If she focused strongly enough, she could almost feel the rays of the moon on her face. And the stars were bright that evening too. She wondered what the Centaurs would make of that, and then wondered why she would think something like that. She sighed; it was nice to lie there. In the peaceful, warm, soothing—

She furrowed her brow. It was definitely too peaceful, now. What had happened to the screams and the noises coming from the fight? She slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself face to face with Uncle Bill.

He grinned mischievously at her. “Ready for a dip?” he asked her before he grabbed her upper arms and Hugo grabbed her ankles.

“No!” she screamed and laughed at the same time, wriggling in their almost painful hold. “No! Let me down!”

“You heard the lady, Hugo,” said Uncle Bill. “On the count of three?”

“Sounds good.”

“One.”

They started to make Lily swing left and right.

“Two.”

“No! No! Uncle Bill! No!”

“Three.”

They had a nice angle and threw her into the water with a good laugh. She closed her mouth and scrunched up her eyes, and the moment she dove, she started to go back up straight away.

She took a deep breath when she was standing again, coughing as some of the water had wormed its way into her nose. “You’re so immature!” she protested only half-heartedly.

Hugo and Uncle Bill laughed and she just glared at them.

“Want to do it again?” asked Uncle Bill.

“No! No!” she said, but she was laughing again already, trying to walk away from them.

“Bill, would you come for a moment, s’il te plaît?” came Auntie Fleur’s voice from the beach.

Uncle Bill turned towards Shell Cottage, then back again. “I trust you know what to do, Hugo,” he said, as he started to walk backwards towards the beach. “Remember that a bit of seawater before dinner is very healthy.”

“Liar!” cried Lily, swimming away from where Hugo was standing. “And don’t you even try it.”

Uncle Bill chuckled and shook his head; he squeezed his long hair in his hands and dried himself with his wand before picking up his shirt and walking back to Shell Cottage.

“Don’t you dare come close to me,” said Lily, raising a finger towards Hugo. “Do you understand me?”

He grinned, and walked to her. “I’m not going to drown you,” he said calmly. “I swear.”

She stared at him suspiciously as he made his way to her; he looked suddenly very serious and Lily furrowed her brow and got ready to jump out of reach if he tried anything.

“Not all girls like me, you know,” he said almost curtly, when he was only a few inches from her.

She looked at him, surprised. “What?”

“There’s a girl that I really like,” he said softly, “and she couldn’t care less about me. In that way, I mean.”

“Oh,” was all she could find to say. A rush of feelings suddenly overwhelmed her. Jealousy. Anger. Sadness. Relief.

He liked someone. He _really_ liked someone. And… she didn’t like him back? Was she stupid? Or was he talking about Marie? Then he was blind like a bat.

“She likes you that way, for your information,” she gritted through her teeth. “She likes you very much, in case you didn’t notice.”

He blinked, surprised. “Does she?” he asked almost breathily.

“Yes,” she replied dryly. “I know it for sure, she told me at Rose’s party.”

He furrowed his brow. “What?”

“What?”

“Who are you talking about?”

She looked at him as if he was stupid. “Marie? Who are _you_ talking about?”

He swallowed and gave her the hint of a smile. “Yeah, I… never mind…”

“No, wait, you like someone else?” she exclaimed.

“No,” he replied way too quickly. “No, I meant Marie. I like her.” He lowered his eyes and seemed to blush in the moonlight. “Shall we go back to Shell Cottage? I bet dinner is almost ready…”

“Yes, we should,” she said curtly, walking past him. She took a couple of steps in the water and stopped, though, feeling something tightening at the bottom of her stomach. “I can’t believe you like another girl!” she hissed at him. “You’re going out with Marie!”

“We’re not really going out,” he mumbled. “And why do you care?”

“I don’t care,” she snapped hotly. “No, I don’t. I really don’t. You can do anything you want.” She kept walking and then stopped again. “Are you going to think about her tomorrow night?” she hissed.

He looked at her, taken aback by her question, probably. He seemed not to know what to reply and, for a moment, she could feel her heart break. It was such an easy answer; he just had to say no.

“You know what?” she hissed. “I don’t want to know.” She resumed her walking, reached the beach, retrieved her wand from her dress and dried herself up.

“Lily…”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Oh come on,” he sighed. “Why are you angry at me?”

“I am not angry,” she snapped. “I am happy that you’re in love.”

“I told you, she doesn’t like me back that way,” he said softly. “Nothing to be happy about.”

She hated that she found herself thinking that that was the only thing to be happy about. She snorted. “Oh poor you,” she deadpanned. “Well, I’m glad that for once there’s one girl out there who is immune to your charms.” She looked at him and raised her chin. “You can’t always have everything you want, Hugo.”

“When do I have everything?” he asked defensibly. “I work hard to get what I want, you know. Whatever it is: my future job, my grades when we were at school, a healthy life. Do you think I wouldn’t like to just sit on the couch and scarf down all sorts of junk food? Do you think I wouldn’t like to go to Oliver Wood and tell him that I’m Uncle Harry’s nephew? And just sit back and wait for him to pick me for the team? Do you think I wouldn’t just like for that girl to throw herself at me?” He shook his head bitterly. “If you think I have everything, think again. I just work hard, that’s all.”

Lily looked at him, her mouth wide. Then she closed her eyes for a moment and let out a small whine. “Oh God,” she said. “You’re right. I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what’s wrong with me! God, what a horrible, horrible person I am!”

“No, you’re not,” he sighed, walking to her. “We’re just very, very on edge for tomorrow night, aren’t we?” He took her chin between his fingers and tilted her head back. “That’s all,” he said, “but we’ve agreed that there’s nothing to worry about and that it won’t change anything between us.”

“Okay,” she said, nodding. “Will you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive you, Lily.”

“No, just do it,” she said, shaking her head. “I feel silly like a child and moody like a teenager when I’m with you.”

“You’re a teenager,” he reminded her.

“Hugo…”

“All is forgiven,” he said, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Happy?”

She nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

“Let’s go now, I’m sure dinner—”

“Lily! ‘Ugo!”

“—is ready.”

***

Dinner went remarkably well. Auntie Fleur fed them with delicious dishes until they were about to explode, and then Uncle Bill offered them some Firewhisky while Lily helped clearing the table.

Auntie Fleur glared at her husband when he asked them if they wanted a glass, but both Lily and Hugo were both so enthusiastic about it that she just sighed and muttered something in French under her breath.

She made a chamomile tea for herself and then drew out a notebook and a quill, and Lily knew that she meant business.

“Shall we, my dear?” she said sweetly.

“A baby shower,” said Lily, nodding. “It’s so exciting, isn’t it?”

“No,” replied Uncle Bill, looking at the sea.

“Zat’s because ‘e’s not invited,” said Auntie Fleur gently. “Ozerwise ‘e’d be excited.”

“He’s not invited?” asked Lily, surprised. “But he’s the father of the mother of the child.”

“You tell her, Lils.”

“Yes, ‘e is,” replied Auntie Fleur, smiling, “but men are traditionally not invited to baby showers.”

“Oh.” She looked over at Hugo, nursing his drink. “Then I owe you money for the present.”

He looked back at her. “Why?”

“Because you’re not invited to the baby shower,” she said calmly. “Right, Auntie?”

“It’s just for us girls,” admitted Auntie Fleur, nodding. “It’ll be fun; a celebration of ze mozer of ze child.”

“I don’t want your money, keep my name on the tag and tell Victoire it’s from both of us,” he said simply. “I too want to give Remus a present.”

“Alright,” said Lily. She turned to Auntie Fleur and smiled. “So, baby shower… Do we need a theme?”

“We don’t _need_ eet, but eet’s nice when zere’s a zeme,” said Auntie Fleur.

“Hmm, how about you organise a Butterbeer drinking contest?”

Hugo chuckled, but Auntie Fleur glared at her husband.

“I zink zat a Parisian zeme would suit ze party very well,” said Auntie Fleur instead. “With pink cupcakes, and French sweets, and pink decorations.”

“It’s a boy, Fleur; you’re going to get him all confused.”

“Eet’s better zan a Butterbeer drinking contest, Bill.”

“There’s nothing better than a Butterbeer drinking contest, Fleur.”

“Well,” said Lily, cutting into the argument. “Nobody says that it has to be all pink. We can have all blue things and still make it classy and Parisian. Right?”

Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur both looked at her for a long moment, then they both nodded and muttered that it was a good idea.

Lily smiled as Auntie Fleur wrote “blue Parisian theme” on her notebook. “As a date, Saturday fifteen?”

“Perfect,” said Lily, “because this Saturday we have invited our parents to the flat for dinner. Hmm… I think Rose will still be in Greece, though.”

“Oh no!” exclaimed Auntie Fleur. “All of us girls must be zere!”

“Then move it to the following Saturday,” suggested Hugo. “Unless you have anything else to do…”

“It’s perfect,” said Auntie Fleur. “Lily?”

“It works for me, and we’ll have more time to organise a proper party.”

Auntie Fleur nodded vigorously as she wrote down the date.

They spent the whole evening talking about the party – with various interruptions from Uncle Bill –, deciding the entertainment, the place, the food and the guest list. And it was only when Hugo told them that he was going home because he had an early rising the following day, that Lily and Auntie Fleur decided to meet next Monday to send out the invites, and closed their meeting with excited giggles.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A HUGE warning that half of this chapter - the second half - is smut. Just kinky smut. Also, sorry if there's a bit too much male!dom. I'm a male!dom kind of gal. *g*
> 
> A medium-size warning for the introduction of a new OC that is going to steal Lily's heart away. 
> 
> A smaller warning that this early update is an exceptional situation: I woke up to a pile of lovely comments that melted my heart + I didn't have to work this morning. (Alright, still have to work, but on my own. Yay!) But we'll be back on the usual GMT+1 12:00 update starting from Tuesday. 
> 
> Enjoy this, my LOVELY readers! And don't forget to let me know what you think about it. This is probably one of my favourite chapters! ♥

***

Lily woke up early on Wednesday morning. So early, she heard Hugo’s alarm go off and then his dragged steps as he walked in front of her door and cast her room under a mumbled Silencing Charm.

She rolled over in bed and hugged her pillow, wondering idly if Hugo had managed to sleep that night.

They hadn’t talked much once they got back home the evening before. He had asked her if she needed help with the letters and she had replied that she didn’t, and then he had bidden her goodnight and they had gone to bed without even a further glance at each other.

Lily didn’t really sleep too well. She dreamt of being crushed down on her mattress by something heavy pressing between her shoulder blades. Something that took her breath away. She didn’t know what it was, because when the weight shifted to the small of her back she woke up with a little cry, drenched in sweat and with her heart hammering in her chest.

She had kept turning and tossing in bed for the rest of the night, unable to go back to sleep. Least of all now, when she knew that Hugo was up and probably thinking about what they’d be doing that night. God. He was surely thinking about that.

Suddenly, the door opened slowly and Lily closed her eyes and pretended she was sleeping again. There were steps nearing her bed and then Hugo’s lips were on her hair. “I’ll see you tonight,” he whispered softly.

She didn’t move. She didn’t even breathe, and she hoped that he couldn’t hear her heart as it beat furiously in her chest.

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and then finally left.

She took a deep breath when he closed the door at his back and the room was enveloped once more in the magical silence.

She looked at the door and sighed as a smile crept over her face.

He’d see her tonight. Everything was going to be all right. Everything was going to be just perfectly fine.

***

Lily felt an incredible desire to go and spend some time with her mother that morning, but since her mother was not there, she instead thought that it would have been nice to have a coffee with Rose. She had to remind herself that her cousin was not there either, and huffed out loud as she stopped under the sign of the Leaky Cauldron.

She wanted something to drink. All right, probably she needed a shot of Firewhisky, but she was sure that Hannah would have frown upon her if she ordered alcohol first thing in the morning. And then, she would have told Neville to give her a good lecture. And, after he did that, he would have Floo Called her parents in Italy, too. And they would have returned home at once and sent their alcoholic daughter off to spend the rest of her life with Aunt Muriel.

She shivered at the thought.

Yeah. She was definitely better off without Firewhisky that morning.

What could she do, though? If getting drunk was not an option, she had to find another way to keep herself busy and her mind far away from thoughts of Hugo and of… _that_. After all, Lily had found only seven letters in Lavender’s office, and she could reply to them in the afternoon. Therefore, she had all the time in the world to take it easy that morning. And honestly, she could have done anything she wanted, she was spoilt for choice, she just couldn’t think about anything in particular that she wanted to do.

Reluctantly, she decided that she could have popped into the shop to see how Roxanne was doing, stay for lunch with Uncle George and Aunt Angelina, and see Fred as well, maybe.

She stopped. What if Uncle Ron was there, too? He surely would bring up the subject of Hugo and she didn’t want to talk about him. Oh Merlin! That was not true. Of course, she wanted to talk about him! She wanted to tell the world that they were going to have sex that evening. And then, she wanted to add that it was all good because Hugo was just helping her with her research. That was the only reason why they were going to have sex. Anal sex, she should have clarified, because her cousins already knew that she had had sex in the past. They would wonder why she needed his help with that.

Yes, she should have said that they were having anal sex, and her family would have just nodded, smiled, and told her that she was lucky to have such a caring and sweet cousin who would help her with her research. Yes, that was all she asked for. Comprehension and someone who’d reassure her that what they did was normal.

“God! It’s not normal!” she muttered, as she kicked a pebble out of the way. She stopped when she noticed that she had talked out loud, she looked furtively around herself, and resumed her walking only when she was sure that nobody had heard her.

Where could she go, though? Definitely not the shop, then. Honestly, she couldn’t face Uncle Ron. Not that day. She knew she would have just walked up to him, and screamed in his face that she was going to shag his son rotten – or the other way round, really – and did he remember her bikini? Well, Hugo was going to see her naked. The bikini didn’t sound that bad now, did it?

She stopped suddenly. “Oh God,” she muttered. They were going to be naked. Completely naked.

Or not.

They only needed to be naked from the waist down; there was no need for her to be completely in the nude. She shook her head. How stupid of her, she was going to be on her stomach – or her hands and knees – he wouldn’t see anything. Se bit her bottom lip. He wouldn’t see her chest, maybe, but he would see everything else.

Not that he hadn’t seen it already! Merlin! She kept forgetting that he had gone down on her.

But she had gone down on him too.

“God,” she groaned.

She stopped suddenly and stared at her reflection in the window shop at her right. She looked so worried that she almost couldn’t recognise herself. She tried to smooth down the wrinkles on her forehead but only succeeded in looking silly.

She sighed and lowered her eyes. God, she was overthinking the whole thing. Honestly, if she didn’t want to do it, she just had to tell Hugo. She was sure that he would respect her decision and be supportive of it. He was always so good, so comprehensive, so respectful. Surely, he wouldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to.

She raised her eyes again and looked back at the shop.

And gasped.

***

“Oh my God.” Uncle Ron’s eyes were as big Galleons as he stared at her.

“I know. I know. I know.” Lily’s eyes were probably just as big. She walked up to him – her resolution to stay away from Uncle Ron that morning gone down the drain – and stretched her arms in front of her. The kitten stretched his paws and yawned cutely.

“Where did you get that?”

“I bought it,” she whined.

“You bought a Kneazle?” he asked in disbelief. “Why?”

She looked down at him. “I don’t know,” she said. “I felt down, and I stopped in front of Magical Menagerie and this little fella was looking at me. And I walked in there to pet him and the woman there said that I looked down and I said that I was feeling down and she said that Kneazles are the best when one is down and I don’t know what happened and I walked out with him!”

Uncle Ron looked at her with eyes wide. “Oh, Lily. Why are you feeling down?” he asked gently. “What happened, pumpkin?”

She looked at him with eyes wide. God, she couldn’t tell him. “Nothing important,” she mumbled. “I’m not feeling down anymore, Uncle Ron.” She raised the kitten again. “Now, I’m worried because I don’t know what I have to do with him!”

Uncle Ron looked at her as if he didn’t believe that she wasn’t feeling down anymore, then he looked at the kitten. “He’s cute,” he said, as he took him from her hands. “He looks a bit like Crookshanks I. The colour, I mean, this one is way cuter than Crookshanks I. Don’t tell your Auntie that, though.” He held him like a child and the kitten stretched his paws and grabbed Uncle Ron’s finger with his tiny but pointy claws.

“Well then, happy belated birthday, Uncle Ron!” she said, grinning brightly.

He looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, but I can’t keep it.”

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I seriously can’t,” he replied. “We already have a Kneazle, and it’s a male too, and you can’t have two males. They don’t get along.”

Lily hunched her shoulders. “Where’s Uncle George?”

“Aunt Angelina is allergic to Kneazle fur.”

Lily let out a frustrated growl. “Oh come on!”

“Take him back to the shop,” said Uncle Ron sensibly.

“I can’t, the woman was very clear, no returns no refunding,” she said. “Oh come on, Uncle Ron, your Kneazle is ancient, I’m sure he won’t even be able to fight with this one.”

He looked at Lily and shook his head firmly, stretching his hands and handing the Kneazle back to her. “To be honest, Lily, I don’t see the problem. Hugo is just like Aunt Hermione, he loves every kind of pet.”

“I don’t have time to take care of a Kneazle,” she protested. “Nor has Hugo.” She took the Kneazle back in her hands and the kitten purred contently. “He’s so soft, though,” she mumbled.

“Are you sure you can’t find some time in your day to take care of him?” he asked gently. “Kneazles are very low-maintenance. They only need some food, a bowl of clean water, and lots of space.”

Lily looked at him with apprehension. “I don’t have lots of space, Uncle Ron! We live in a flat in Diagon Alley, not a house with a garden like yours or like—Grandma!”

Uncle Ron pressed his lips together. “Oh Lily, no, Grandma and Granddad are too old to take care of a Kneazle.”

She looked at him. “You said they’re low-maintenance!” she protested. “I really can’t keep him, Uncle Ron. I don’t have room!”

“You leave your window open and he’ll just hop on the roofs and take his walks around Diagon Alley without a worry in the world.”

Lily lowered her eyes, and squeezed the kitten to her chest, feeling utterly defeated. “Hugo is going to kill me,” she said softly. “I just know it.”

“Don’t be silly, Lily,” he said, patting her shoulder. “He’ll be thrilled.”

***

Lily went back to Magical Menagerie to get Kneazle food, milk, and a set of bowls. She tried to exchange the kitten for a Pygmy Puff or something much less high-maintenance – she didn’t trust Uncle Ron –, but they wouldn’t let her.

Therefore, she brought him home with her, fed him, and made him play with a string from a pair of her old trainers.

She didn’t reply to a single letter, nor she remembered to eat, or do anything else but play and laugh and feed the kitten until he fell asleep on her lap.

She grinned at him and rubbed his soft, long fur, combing it in this and that direction. The kitten purred in his sleep, content and completely tired out after an afternoon spent playing with new owner.

She scooped him up to her chest and then laid him back down on the sofa. She had completely forgotten to buy him a cat bed, and a place where he could do his business. Of course, the woman at Magical Menagerie hadn’t helped one bit. That old hag! She had just taken advantage of Lily’s distress to give her a kitten. What a witch!

She sighed and stood up, it was almost six, Hugo would be home any moment now; she had to convince him that a Kneazle was exactly what they needed. Oh yes, it was.

There was a faint noise of a key turning in the hole and when the door was pushed forward, Lily hurried towards it.

“You’re early!” she exclaimed as she grabbed his arms and turned him around, closing the door with a foot and leaning against it.

He blinked, looking down at her in surprise. “No, I’m not,” he said slowly. “I’m perfectly—”

“I bought something,” she blurted out.

He furrowed his brow for a second before smiling mischievously. “Is it something for tonight?” he asked softly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear like he had done that morning.

She shook her head, until that lock was once again in front of her face. “No, it’s something for… forever?”

He smiled. “What is it?” he asked amusedly. “Is it some—oh!”

There was purring coming from between the two of them, and when Lily looked down, she saw the kitten rubbing his nuzzle against Hugo’s ankles and almost falling on his trainers.

“It’s a Kneazle,” she said, trying to plaster a grin to her face. “A kitten,” she added as Hugo picked him up. “A boy.”

“You bought a Kneazle?” he asked just as Uncle Ron had done. “Why?”

“Oh God, I don’t know!” she whinged. “I was feeling down today and before I knew what happened I found myself walking out Magical Menagerie with that.”

“Why were you feeling down?” he asked her seriously, rubbing the kitten gently in his hands. “Is it for tonight? Lily, we don’t—”

“I know,” she said softly. “It’s not for tonight. I was just being silly. Anyway, are you angry?”

He looked at her as if he didn’t believe her, then looked down at the kitten and turned away from her. He let his Quidditch bag fall to the floor and sat on the sofa. “Are you going to take care of him?” he asked her seriously while the kitten smelled him and purred. “Because I don’t have much time.”

“Your dad said they’re very low-maintenance creatures,” she said, sitting next to him.

“True, but they still need food and fresh water every day, and someone to play with or cuddle from time to time,” he replied seriously.

“I’ll take care of him,” she said, nodding and placing a hand on her heart to swear.

Hugo smiled as the kitten started to climb up his chest. “I’ll take care of him too, when I can,” he said gently. “Look at that! We’ve got a redhead kitten. What did you call him?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t give him a name, yet,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to until I was sure that you’d let me keep him.”

“Well, let’s name him now,” he proposed, smiling brightly. “Any ideas?”

“Fluffy?”

Hugo glanced at her askew, raising an eyebrow for effect.

“No? Mr Whiskers?”

Hugo looked back at the kitten. “Why don’t we call him something important? Like Merlin or Godric?”

“All the other Kneazles will laugh at him if we call him Merlin,” she pointed out.

He cocked his head. “While Fluffy is a much more acceptable choice,” he replied. “How about… Rufus?”

The Kneazle roared at that – actually, he just yawned and mewed at the same time, but it looked like a miniature lion sending out a miniature roar – and Lily swooned. “Rufus,” she repeated. “Rufus, here, Rufus!”

He didn’t go, but he looked at her and started to lick his paw, until Lily patted her lap, then he finally went to her.

“It’s his name,” said Hugo cheerfully. “Rufus.”

The kitten mewed again.

Lily grinned and scooped him up in her arms. “He’s so cute,” she said, looking at Hugo with a grin over her face. “I can’t believe we got a Kneazle. Look at us, we’re so grown up.”

“Oh yes, next time, you can go and buy us a baby,” he snorted, “then we’ll be even more grown up.”

“You don’t buy babies, Hugo,” she said. “You steal them. Do you want me to get Remus during the baby shower? I bet Vicky won’t even notice…”

Hugo shook his head and chortled. “What do you want for dinner?” he finally asked.

She lowered her eyes on the kitten and shook her head. “Nothing,” she said softly but firmly. “I can’t eat.”

She saw him turning a bit towards her out of the corner of her eye. “What did you have for lunch?”

“Nothing,” she replied truthfully. “My stomach is in knots.”

“For tonight? Oh Lily, honestly, we shouldn’t—”

“Aren’t you nervous?” she asked him forcefully, turning to look at him. “Aren’t you scared?”

He shook his head, looking calm. “No,” he said. “I’m excited. I’m… I’m aroused at the thought of what’s going to happen, but I’m not scared.” He placed his hand on her knee, near Rufus. “If you’re scared, we shouldn’t do it.”

She covered his hand with hers and squeezed it. “I’m not scared,” she whispered. “I mean, I am, but I’m not going to be once we start. I am scared now, because… because I just don’t know exactly what to expect. But thinking that I’ll do it with you… It makes me feel more nervous—”

“Lily…”

“—and less nervous all together. Which doesn’t even make sense, I know, but that’s how it feels. A second I’m more nervous because of you, and the next I’m less nervous, always because of you.”

He smiled and she smiled back. He didn’t ask anything else, and she was grateful for that.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “I’m here, and everything is going to go smoothly. I just know it, and you better believe me.” He smiled again. “And I also know that it’s going to be very distracting if we hear our empty stomachs complaining all the time while we’re at it. So, we better eat something light, a snack or something, and then lock the Kneazle in the bathroom and just do it.”

“Lock the Kneazle in the bathroom?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Well, you don’t want him to jump on your back while I—”

“No,” she hurried to say, “but we’re not going to do it here, are we?”

He cocked his head. “Where then?”

“My room,” she said, “please? I don’t want to do it on the sofa… It’s so… sleazy.”

He bit his bottom lip. “I thought you’d never ask,” he whispered. “Your room it is.” He stood up. “But a snack is due, first. No, no, don’t you dare complain. It’s really unsexy when the girl faints under you.”

She smiled, blushed, and followed him with her eyes as he went to the kitchen, whistling, and prepared them something to eat.

***

They had a baked potato. Topped with tuna and cheese. Hugo had to spoon it into her mouth at some point, but she felt better after that.

She insisted on taking a shower and Hugo said he would set up the place, create the atmosphere, and get psychologically ready.

She didn’t know exactly what he meant, but she felt like she had to get psychologically ready too. She spent half an hour scrubbing herself clean. Everywhere. Especially _there_.

She wrapped Hugo’s towel around herself – hers was nowhere to be found, once again – and walked back into her room.

And stopped.

Her room was… _wow_. Was that even her room?

The door closed at her back and she could feel Hugo’s t-shirt brushing against her shoulder blades. He moved her hair away from her shoulder and lowered his head to plant a kiss there.

“What did you do?” she asked softly. There was a low, glowing light coming from the candles that fluctuated about. And the room smelled of a nice, flowery scent, almost like… lilies. Yes, lilies. But it wasn’t that. There was something different and it wasn’t that.

“I tidied up,” he replied, kissing her neck. “You like it?”

She stared at the clean floor; there were no more boxes, no piles of dirty and clean clothes, no shoes all over the place. Everything was clean and tidy; everything was perfect.

She nodded, taking a deep breath.

He smiled against her neck and raised his head again, walking around her, he stretched a hand towards her and she grasped the towel with the other one before she took it. “I need to wear something,” she said anxiously. “Really, really do.”

He furrowed his brow. “Oh… I thought…”

“What?”

He smiled. “Nothing. Do whatever you need to do to feel comfortable,” he said gently.

She nodded and walked to her wardrobe. Everything was tidy in there, too. She picked a short dress, something that could be easily pushed up past her hips. She turned towards Hugo. “Close your eyes,” she said and, even though it was a silly thing to ask right before sex, he complied immediately.

She donned the dress quickly, and went to stand in front of him. “Okay,” she murmured. “What now?”

“Can I open my eyes?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes,” she replied. “Have you locked the Floo? Have you put wards around the flat?”

“Yes, and Rufus is sleeping in my room,” he said, nodding. “Nobody will disturb us.”

She nodded back, then bit her bottom lip and lowered her eyes. “What now?” she repeated.

He closed his fingers around her hand, enlacing them with hers. “Now,” he whispered, as he guided her towards her bed, “now we relax.”

“I don’t feel very relaxed,” she fretted, following him.

“I know,” he replied, as he sat and pulled her to him. “I can feel it.”

She sat on his lap and wrapped an arm around his neck; his curls tickled the bend of her elbow.

He looked at her. “Usually, kissing would be in order now, I guess,” he whispered.

She swallowed.

“So…” He lowered his head and slowly kissed her neck again, breathing gently against her pulse point, scraping his teeth against her skin.

She groaned and tilted her head back a little, to offer him an ampler angle. His fingers brushed gently her hipbone and her stomach.

“Better?” he whispered as he bit her earlobe.

She nodded and took a sharp breath as he descended again and nuzzled her collarbone. He was so good at kissing her everywhere where she was the most sensitive. She could feel herself sagging slowly against his chest, becoming boneless.

She was so caught up in the sensations that she barely noticed when he shifted her around, raising her gently in his arms before laying her down, and the next thing she knew, they were both lying on their sides on the bed, facing each other.

Hugo smiled at her as he stretched his hand down her side and to her arse. He started to gather up her dress, but stopped when she took a sharp breath.

He looked seriously at her. “Still tense?”

“I’m sorry,” she replied, eyes wide. “I… I just…”

He nodded in understanding. “Take this off,” he said.

“What?” she asked, her voice choked.

“Take the dress off,” he repeated. “Trust me. I promise you won’t regret it.”

She bit her bottom lip again. God! She was going to leave a permanent dent in there if she wasn’t careful. She didn’t want to take off her dress. She didn’t want to be naked. “Hugo, I…”

“I’m not going to touch you where you don’t want me to touch you,” he said gently, “and I’m not going to look, until you tell me to look.” He closed his eyes. “Take off the dress and lie on your stomach.”

She swallowed again, but what he suggested sounded like something that she could do and this time she complied. She slid off the dress and let it pool at her feet, then she lay back down again next to Hugo, hugging a pillow to her chest as she turned her head to look at him. “You can look,” she whispered.

He opened his eyes, but didn’t look at her naked body, and she felt alternatively relieved and offended. How silly of her. He smiled though, and stood from the bed. She looked at him as he took off his tee-shirt and placed it on Lily’s dresser. Then grabbed the bottle of lube and made his way back to the bed.

“You should be naked too,” she said almost accusatorily. “It’s not fair that I—oooh!”

The lube was warm and pleasant on the small of her back and she sighed in delight as he squirted a fair amount between her dimples. Then his hands were on her, but instead of going down, they were going up, over her back, to her shoulders. They slid pleasantly on her flushed skin and then descended again, smooth, secure, and with the single-minded intent of giving her pleasure.

She closed her eyes and squeezed the pillow to her chest, moaning in delight. He was good, like with everything he did, he was bloody good at giving a massage as well, and she could slowly feel all her muscles relax and unknot under his playful fingers.

“You like it?”

“Yes,” she replied breathily. “I love it.”

She thought that he was smiling, but she wasn’t sure. His hands kept moving up and down her back, and she almost didn’t notice that they were dipping lower and lower with every movement he made, until she felt him on the inside of her thigh.

She felt weird. She felt relaxed and excited at the same time. Completely boneless and aroused. Comfortable and wet. Oh God! She was wet, _so_ wet, and he hadn’t even started touching her there yet.

He caressed her neck and then followed the beads of her spine down to her arse once again and then…

“Oh,” she sighed as his thumb brushed gently over her arsehole.

“Relax,” he whispered.

His fingers were so oily and his voice so soothing that she found that she could do just that as he massaged her there. Gently, without pushing, just in a way that made her toes curl and her stomach tighten.

Then his fingers were gone, and a second later, she took a deep breath as he circled her clit. She hoped that the lube would disguise the ridiculous amount of wetness that was pooling between her legs, but she wasn’t sure that Hugo hadn’t already noticed how aroused she was.

He slid off the bed and, for a moment, she opened her eyes, feeling an irrational fear that he would leave her like that. But he was lying between her legs before she had even had time to turn to look at him. And then he was on her and she couldn’t help but arch her back in surprise.

“Hugo,” she mumbled as he closed his mouth over one of her perky cheeks.

He kissed his way to her puckered hole and she held her breath as opened her up with her hands and closed his lips over it.

She was staring at the headboard in front of her without seeing it at all; her eyelids were heavy and her breath was ragged. Hugo was rimming her, and she couldn’t believe that she was enjoying it that much. His tongue was pushing against the tight ring of muscles more and more insistently and she found herself pushing back a little against him.

When he groaned at her eagerness, she could feel it against her leg. She stilled her hips suddenly very self-conscious, but he circled her waist with his arm and encouraged her to raise herself up a bit on her knees.

She did and he resumed his work with even more enthusiasm than before. She could feel her muscles relax as his tongue pushed in and out of her, while his hands kept her open for him. Then he withdrew and he was probably staring at her as he brought a well-lubed finger where his mouth had just been.

She bit her bottom lip again. It felt so big, and she couldn’t believe that it would ever manage to enter her. It did though, and much more quickly than she had imagined.

Her muscles tightened around it, but it didn’t hurt. Nothing of what he was doing to her hurt. He pushed it to his first knuckle, and then pulled it out. Then back in again, then out. Slowly, carefully, gently. Every time he pushed in, he went a bit farther; every time he pulled out, he was fast to thrust back in. She knew she was moaning shamelessly against the pillow, and she didn’t care. It felt good. It felt weird and it felt exciting. It surprised her how good it felt. She wasn’t thinking about being embarrassed, she wasn’t thinking about how dirty that was. It felt good, and that was all that mattered.

When he pushed another finger alongside the first one, Lily groaned softly into the pillow.

He kissed her arse, tenderly and wetly. “Too much?”

“No,” she groaned. “It feels good.”

He kissed her again, biting her gently, and smiling against her skin. “Good,” he whispered.

“You’re good,” she babbled, “you’re so good…”

He chuckled, a low, deep sound from his throat, and picked up his speed a little. She let out a high-pitched and almost embarrassing sound when his other hand cupped her mound. His long fingers started to play with her clit, rubbing maddening slow circles around it.

“Oh God,” she groaned. “Too much… good but too much…”

“Should I stop?”

“Don’t you dare,” she breathed out.

He kissed her again, then his fingers exited her and next thing she knew, something much harder and slightly wider was at her entrance.

She held her breath again, arching her back a little as she waited for the sting. It never came. He slid it inside as if that butt plug was made for her and only her. It felt slightly uncomfortable and foreign, but somehow it wasn’t unpleasant. It reached places inside of her that she had never even thought about reaching and soon she was relaxing back down on the bed and letting out the breath she had been holding.

Hugo touched it with his palm to be sure that it was secured inside, and then pushed himself up, sliding next to her on the bed and coming to lie at her side. “You’re so gorgeous,” he whispered as he moved some of her hair away from her face. “I wish I could take a picture of you like this.”

She smiled languidly and cupped his cheek. “Shut up, Hugo,” she murmured.

He captured her hand and kissed her palm. “It’s true,” he told her gently. “I won’t do it, but I wish I could. I never want to forget tonight.”

She smiled again. “I know I never will.”

“Me neither,” he whispered. “Are you alright? Does it hurt? Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head, rubbing her cheeks against the pillow. “I loved it,” she admitted, blushing furiously.

“Good,” he said again, kissing her fingers. “We haven’t even started yet.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Do you need help…” She lowered her eyes to his groin and her words trailed away.

“You think I’m not already so hard that it hurts?” he murmured. He guided her hand down to his shorts and she closed her fingers around his cock. He was hard and he whimpered slightly when she rubbed her thumb over the length.

“You’re so big,” she said, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. “You’re never… you’re never going to fit…”

He moved closer to her, and kissed her frown away. “You just focus on relaxing,” he whispered, “and let me worry about anything else.” He kissed her forehead again. “Just tell me if I’m hurting you, okay?”

She nodded. “We need a safe word,” she said.

“We do,” he replied. “What about Albus?”

Lily’s head rose a few inches from the pillow and she could feel the plug dig in a different angle inside of her. “You joking?”

“Yeah,” he grinned, then groaned as she rubbed him with a bit more force. “You’re wicked,” he sighed. “What about Kneazle?”

“Kneazle,” she repeated. “I like it.” She placed her head back down and let him go.

“Good,” he whispered in her ear. “Remember it.”

She nodded and stared at him as he rolled away from her and stood up. She didn’t turn to look at him but heard the rustling of clothes as he took off his shorts and let them fall to the floor. “Can I borrow your pillow?” he said as he grabbed the one she wasn’t hugging to her chest.

He pulled it towards him and then his hand was circling her hip, sliding over her stomach, and suddenly he was helping her raising a little as he stuffed the pillow under her.

She took little sharp breaths as the butt plug changed angle again, but it wasn’t painful, she was just unprepared.

“You okay?” he asked as he kneeled between her legs.

She nodded and leant her head back on the pillow. “Yeah…”

She heard him squirt some more lube, but this time it wasn’t for her. He coated himself, and she imagined his cock all shiny and oily. She felt a desire to touch it and look at it, but she didn’t tell Hugo.

He placed both hands on her arse to open her up again, and then he was suddenly fumbling with the plug. “Tell me if it hurts,” he said softly.

She nodded, but it didn’t. Paradoxically, it seemed almost harder to take it out than it had been to push it in, but Hugo was gentle and slow, as if his hard on wasn’t painful at all at that moment, as if all he wanted to do was to focus on Lily and only her.

She took a deep breath and when it was finally out, she felt empty, and she definitely didn’t like it.

It didn’t last long, though, because he let the plug fall to the floor with a loud thud, and then he was at her entrance again, pushing the lubed head of his cock against her hole.

“You’re too big,” she mumbled, hugging the pillow. “God…”

He seemed to chuckle softly, and kept pushing. He was big, bigger than the plug for sure. God, he should have gotten a bigger plug. Or more than one. A set of plugs. Yes, she should ask for a set of plugs for Christmas. _Oh God, no I shouldn’t_.

He rocked his hips forward, and the bulbous head slipped inside.

“Oh God,” she repeated, pushing her head into the pillow.

One of his hands left her hip and he brushed her hair away from her face. “Hey, you okay?” he whispered as she turned her head.

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Tell me if I hurt you.”

She nodded. He wasn’t hurting her, but she was so sure that he was going to at some point that she couldn’t do anything else but bracing herself and tensing her whole body up.

He pushed forward slowly, adding some lube and stopping every time she hissed a bit too loudly, or when he noticed that he couldn’t move anymore.

Then he stopped. Completely.

He moved his other hand from her hip and down until it was resting on the mattress. His chest brushed against her shoulder blades as he lowered his head near hers. “Fuck yourself on my cock, Lily,” he whispered, biting gently on her lobe.

She arched her back at those words and pushed automatically back against him, taking him slowly in.

“Good girl,” he groaned, “such a good girl…”

She moaned at the praise, and pushed back again. Little thrusts that let him go deeper and deeper into her.

He straightened his back and groaned. “Oh fuck. Look at you. You’re so fucking gorgeous.” He placed his hand back on her hip and pulled her to him, until he was sheathed in her arse to the base.

She let out a soundless cry, and threw her head back. It still didn’t hurt. She was full, and it felt so good she almost couldn’t breathe. One of his hands was resting near hers on the mattress, the other was on her hipbone, and it was sliding slowly towards her front, down between her legs.

Her eyelids drooped when he worked her clit with secure movements.

God, but he was making her body sing as if they had done that all their lives.

He lowered himself back on her, his sweaty chest against her oiled back. “You’re so gorgeous,” he repeated, “so fucking gorgeous. Do you want me to fuck you?”

She nodded and panted.

“You sure you can take it?” he whispered, kissing her neck and sucking on the spot beneath her ear.

“Yes,” she choked out. “Please…”

He bit her gently, and then, finally, started.

He was slow, maddening slow, but steady. He pulled back out and then in again. Over and over again, and every time, he pulled out almost completely before shoving back inside.

She keened shamelessly and started to thrust against him every time he drove into her. His fingers on her clit were driving her delirious with desire, his cock was filling her exquisitely, her whole world was reduced to pure, unadulterated lust.

His lips were on her neck, now, he wasn’t kissing her anymore, but he was panting and she could feel his arms shaking as he fingered her with one hand and tried to keep his weight off of her with the other.

She was so close, so close she couldn’t understand anything else anymore except for the tightening of the muscles in her lower abdomen, and the tingles between her legs.

Then it happened, and it was like going down a slope in a rollercoaster. All her muscles tightened up, her toes curled, and her lower back dipped as she panted and twitched under him.

Her eyesight became spotty all of a sudden, the headboard disappeared from before her eyes, and all she could hear was a pleasant buzzing in her ears and Hugo chanting, “Fuck, fuck, fuck… so tight…”

He didn’t stop drawing circles on her clit, he straightened up his back though, and wound his hand in her hair, drawing her head back a little.

He fucked her in earnest then, setting up a punishing pace. She didn’t mind, she couldn’t understand anything anymore, she was just a bundle of nerves that was slowly tightening again towards another orgasm.

She couldn’t believe she would come again, but everything was just too good. Too perfect. Too exhilarating.

She felt as if she was drunk. She felt as if she wasn’t going to survive to her second orgasm. She felt as if it was a dream, and she didn’t want to wake up from it any time soon.

She could feel her legs shaking. She was going to fall back down over her stomach. Her arms were shaking, too; she imagined herself being crushed by Hugo, and she thought that she wanted just that. To feel him all over herself. To have every inch of his skin against hers.

He drove into her and pushed against her clit, rolling it in the copious wetness that was pooling there.

“Lily… fuck… I’m going to come… I…”

She gritted her teeth and moved her hand over his, to keep it there, to help him make her go into an overload of sensations once again. “Come inside of me,” she panted out. “Please. I want that…”

“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…”

He pushed almost spasmodically in both directions and stopped. His lower abdomen pressed against her arse as he stilled and came inside of her, and his hand cupped her mound possessively, his fingers pushing against her clit and dipping into her passage.

She came with a soundless cry for the second time as he held her close to him, right after he had come, too.

And for a moment, Lily couldn’t tell where she ended and he started.

For a moment, their hearts seemed to beat at the same pace.

Then, after what seemed like hours, he slowly helped her back down on the mattress. Her breaths were shallow puffs of hair as she let him slide out of her and lay boneless against the pillows. He lay down next to her, breathing just as raggedly.

They didn’t speak. They just caught their breath in silence for the longest minutes, feeling ecstatic and satiated.

It was only when he placed a warm hand on her waist and whispered, “I should go…” that she was brought back to reality.

She almost gasped at those words. Her hand was shaken out of the post-orgasmic stupor she had fallen into and quickly grabbed his forearm, rolling on the bed until she was giving him her back.

“Don’t you dare,” she whispered sharply. “Don’t you dare go anywhere, tonight.”

She could bet he was smiling as he let her guide his hand over her stomach.

“I have to wake up early,” he reminded her, his voice was still breathless in her ear.

“I don’t care,” she said, pushing herself back until her back fitted against his chest. “Don’t you dare leave this bed,” she continued, her voice choked. “It makes me feel like… like it was just a cheap fuck…”

“Oh God, no,” he whispered. He pressed himself against her and tugged her even closer, his arm closing possessively around her ribcage. “It was the most fantastic thing I’ve ever experienced,” he whispered in her ear. “I love you so much, Lily… and you… you…”

“I love you back, Hugo,” she reassured him, “so much.” She grabbed the pillows with arms made of jelly and passed him one as she placed the other under her head. He grabbed her sheets and covered them up.

“You know what to write now?” he whispered gently, his thumb drawing circles on her stomach.

She nodded. “I just hope for her that her boyfriend’s good as you are.”

He kissed her cheek, his lips lingering on her skin as he breathed. “You make me blush,” he whispered jokingly. “And I hope that she’s good as you are, too.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she mumbled. “I just lay there and let you do all the work.”

He kissed her again, and then again, slowly, gently. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he whispered. “You were fantastic. They way you responded to my touches, the way you moved…” He growled and hugged her even more forcefully. “It makes me hard again just to think about it.”

She giggled and turned her head to kiss his naked shoulder. “I was only as good as you were,” she said. “God, I don’t know why I was so scared…”

“It is scary,” he assured her, “but you were so good…”

“Stop it or _you’ll_ make me blush,” she whispered. “Shall we sleep now?” she asked softly. “I’m knackered.”

“Me, too,” he replied. “Sleep tight, Lily.” He squeezed her as he said it.

“You, too,” she replied, enlacing her fingers with his.

She fell asleep a few minutes later, feeling incredibly happy and safe in Hugo’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very NSFW piece of art for this scene can be found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5929222/chapters/21193541). Go ahead and leave all your comments and love to the artist. ❤


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! So happy to know that the smut scene in the last chapter was liked by you lot! :D It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have to tell you that I don't particularly like the last scene of this chapter. But we can't always have nice things, can we? *sighs* 
> 
> I have a little announcement to do: This story has just recently reached 100 comments (I know you see that there are 228 comments right now, but those are comprehensive of my replies and your replies to my replies - in case you don't have stories on this website and don't know how they are calculated). There are in fact 102 comments and 102 kudos right now! There are 13 chapters to go, and I hardly think we'll ever get to 200 comments, but I hope to reach the 150 mark with you lot! SO, if you're interested, I wanted to do a little thing for you. To whoever leaves the 150th comment, I will gift a one-shot sequel to this story. I'll post it publicly, but the 150 commenter can tell me what they want to see in it (e.g. Lily and Hugo being all kissy-kissy in some particular situation? Lily finding out that she's pregnant? Hugo finding out that she's pregnant? Their wedding? Smutty McSmut stuff? Hugo proposing? Lily and Hugo going on some important gala for Quidditch-related stuff? Whatever you want!). Do you like the idea? The winner will be able to leave me a comment here with what they want to see and ask other people to give them ideas, they can send me a private message on FF.Net or Livejournal, they can email me and keep it private. Whatever they want! I'm excited to write more Lugo, and I promise it'll be up before May 31, because that day I'm moving to London permanently and will have to take a bit of a hiatus from fandom. u_u Love you all! **Let me know if you're interested in this announcement!** xx

***

When Lily woke up, Hugo had already left, but she was not alone. Curled in a furry ball on her pillow there was Rufus, sleeping beatifically and with his rosy nose twitching every now and then.

She smiled and grabbed him gently in her hands, managing not to wake him up despite the movement. She squeezed him to her naked chest, revelling in the softness of his fur against her skin.

“Did you sleep well in your new home, Rufus?” she hummed sleepily. “I bet you did… all alone on Hugo’s bed.” She yawned. “I slept well too.” She curled her legs up to her chest and felt a stickiness between her arse cheeks. “I’m in dire need of a shower, that’s for sure,” she mumbled, “but I had the best sex of my whole life.” She looked at Rufus. “I know I shouldn’t tell you this, you’re still a kitten, but it was bloody awesome…” She yawned again. “Pardon my language.” She smiled gently and closed her eyes before opening them slowly once more. “Not that I’ve had tons of sex before,” she clarified. “I’m not that kind of girl.” She darkened slightly. “And I usually don’t have sex with someone who is not my boyfriend, you know…” She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “But with Hugo is different,” she admitted. “He’s more affectionate than all of my ex-boyfriends have ever been. He makes me feel special. I know he loves me, but he makes me feel like I’m the only girl in the world for him…” She sighed. “Which is silly, because he likes someone else.” She blinked at the way her sentence came out. “Not that I expect him to like me back that way, you know, that would be so wrong. Like, honestly, wrong.” She nodded for good measure and looked at Rufus again, rubbing his head thoughtfully. “What? No, I’m not saying that I like him that way,” she said. “I mean, it sounded like it, but I don’t. I mean, he makes me feel special, of course, but I’m sure he makes every girl feel special… It’s just who he is. And no, I’m not jealous. I swear.” She snorted and rolled her eyes before sighing again. “Okay, maybe just a little bit—which means that I wouldn’t mind tearing all the hair off Marie’s head just because she gets to snog him.”  

Rufus mewed pitifully and Lily finally noticed that she was squeezing him fiercely between her breasts. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she hurried to say. “Mummy didn’t mean to choke you.” She let him go and the kitten just nuzzled his nose into her chin. “You’re not angry, are you?” She smiled. “No, you’re not… Did Daddy feed you before he went out? I bet he did, otherwise you wouldn’t be so calm.”

She stretched her arms over her head and Rufus almost slid over a breast, making Lily giggle. She finally pushed the sheets back and made her way to the bathroom. She was surprised when her new friend followed her inside and sat on the floor to wait for her.

***

> _Dear T,_
> 
> _Thank you for confiding in me and for asking for my advice in such a delicate situation. I really hope that I will be able to be of some help to you._
> 
> _Before we get down to business and talk about the subject at hand, though, I can’t stress enough the issue of consent. Please, T, keep in mind that if you don’t want to go through with it, you are under no obligation whatsoever to do so. Only because you go out with this man, it doesn’t mean that you are supposed to do anything that doesn’t make you feel comfortable. I cannot stress this enough. Your body is yours and yours only, and if anybody at all has a problem with that, just explain your feelings and how you feel about it; if he loves you, he’ll understand._
> 
> _Now, I need you to know that anal sex is not as scary as it sounds. First and foremost, you have to make sure that your partner has your best interests at heart, make sure that he can read your signals and that he’s ready to stop whenever you experience any kind of discomfort. ~~If he’s as good as Hugo, though, there’ll be little to no discomfort and no pain whatsoever. But God… I don’t know if anybody in the world is as good as Hugo.~~ _
> 
> _Preparation is key. Both psychological and physical. You need to open your mind and prepare yourself for it, and you need your partner to prepare your body. Don’t skimp on the lube! There are many varieties that you can find, some of them can be used to give massages as well, and some are scented. Whatever kind you pick, make sure he uses a lot of it. Make sure he prepares you with his fingers before penetration. You can also use a butt plug for a less drastic transition between the size of his digits and the size of his penis._
> 
> _Touch yourself, or ask him to touch you ~~(unless he’s like Hugo, then he’ll know what to do and you won’t have to tell him anything at all)~~ , so that both of you can experience the same pleasure during penetration. Relax, that’s very important. Relax and relax your muscles. And be vocal in case he doesn’t understand what your body says. Don’t let him take complete control over you and your pleasure, take all that you need to make it enjoyable. I suggest you decide on a safe word together before you begin._
> 
> _Again, if you really want to do it, you will be able to, and it will be pleasant, I promise. But if you don’t want to do it – and I can’t stress this enough – you don’t have to._
> 
> _Everything is going to be all right, T. And I hope that my letter helps you._
> 
> _~~And now, if you will excuse me, I have to go and see if I can get Hugo out of my head. Haven’t managed to for the whole morning…~~ _
> 
> _I wish you all the best,_
> 
> _Lavender xxx_

***

Lily drew a gigantic red asterisk on the top of the letter; this was definitely not family-friendly. She hoped that Mr Quills didn’t call her into his office the day after it was published. Honestly, she was doing a public service here.

Of course, she had used the word ‘penis’, but it was always better than ‘cock’, wasn’t it? Yes, it was, she couldn’t write ‘cock’ on the Daily Prophet. She wasn’t quite sure she could use the word ‘penis’ either, but anyway…

She folded the letter – the only one she had replied to in more than twenty-four hours – stood from the kitchen chair, and got ready to go to the newsroom.

***

In hindsight, Lily was pretty sure that getting a Kneazle hadn’t been one of her brightest ideas. Hell, she knew it hadn’t been a brilliant idea ten seconds after she had walked out of Magical Menagerie.

But now, at five in the afternoon and with a gigantic pile of unanswered letters waiting for her on the kitchen table, she was absolutely sure that it had been a terrible idea to buy that kitten.

He was the cutest and softest Kneazle she’d ever seen, and she was fascinated by him. He could yawn, he could mew, he could dip his whole face into a bowl of milk and look at her covered in white drops, and she would just giggle and swoon at how cute he was.

She played with him all day, she napped with him on her stomach, and she showed him the window that he could use to hop on the rooftops. They even ate together – well, at the same time, not the same food or at the same table, even though Lily couldn’t resist to pass him some pieces of tuna from her plate.

Right after lunch, she even had Fred and Roxanne visiting just to see him. Apparently, Uncle Ron had spilled the beans about her impulsive purchase with Uncle George, and now everybody knew.

Roxanne and Fred had stayed with her for most of the afternoon too, and playing with them and her kitten had made Lily feel like a child: happy and without a care in the world.

Naturally, she had cares in the world, and those cares were the letters, but she delighted in the thought that she would have asked Hugo for some help with them. To be honest, she was almost hoping to find some kind of special letter that needed a special reply.

Right after that thought had formed in her mind, though, she shook her head frantically. She didn’t hope that. No, no, no. What an idiot she was. No, not an idiot. A sex-starved teenager. Oh God! Had she been twenty-three or thirty, surely she wouldn’t think those things.

“I’m stupid, right Rufus?”

The kitten just purred in reply, rubbing his nose all over her face.

“Is that a no, or a yes? I don’t quite understand, you know,” she giggled.

He turned away from her and strutted his backside to prepare to jump down from her lap. She grabbed him before he could do it, though, and placed him gently on the floor. He strode towards his empty bowl and mewed.

“So you were not even listening to me,” she said. “You’re just hungry.”

He mewed again, twitching his whiskers.

She stood and went to the kitchen. “Alright, let me see…” She took out the gigantic packet of dry food she had bought for him. “Hmm, I gave you this for lunch,” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe you want something different? How about some chicken? I think we have some in the freezer… I’ll cook it for you and… for us too, why not? How difficult can it be, honestly?”

She didn’t know where that boost of confidence came from, but she found that it didn’t matter. She defrosted the chicken with a Heating Charm and decided that she was going to cut it into small stripes and fry it lightly with some oil. Maybe she would have made it hop into the pan like Hannah always did when she cooked for her clients.

She turned on the cooker and let the oil heat, and when it was hot enough, she poured the chopped chicken in there. The moment the delicious smell of fried meat started to fill the air, Rufus started to become more exuberant. He licked her naked feet and gave her little bites on her ankle.

“Hey,” she giggled. “I’m not edible.”

She lowered the fire a little because the noise of the chicken as it fried was almost deafening and some drops of hot oil were spraying dangerously close to her arms. She lowered her eyes again to check where the little furry ball had gone, and was startled by two hands on her waist.

“Hmm,” sighed Hugo, dipping his nose into her hair. “I wanted to take you out to dinner tonight… and you’re cooking for the first time ever.”

She turned her head to look at him, eyebrows high. “It’s not the first time ever,” she pointed out, “and it’s all Rufus’ fault. He was hungry and I don’t want to give him that dry food again.”

He lowered his head and kissed her temple, then moved her hair out of the way and planted small kisses down her neck. “I’ll take you out tomorrow, then…”

She swallowed noisily, and turned again to keep an eye on the chicken, which was becoming golden quickly. “I have a date with Derek tomorrow,” she whispered. “Remember?”

Obviously, he didn’t, because at the mention of Derek, he stopped his ministrations abruptly. He seemed to be holding his breath as his hands let her go. “Yes, I’m sorry,” he said quietly, stepping away from her. “I didn’t mean to be inappropriate.” 

She turned to look at him, with a smile forced upon her lips as she stared at him.

He leant against the counter and lowered his eyes.

“You weren’t,” she said as cheerfully as she could. “It’s nice of you to wanting to take me out to dinner. You don’t have to, though.”

He nodded softly, but he suddenly seemed rather disheartened. “How was your day?” he asked quietly. “Everything alright? No… no pain? Nowhere?”

She shook her head. “I’ve never felt better,” she mumbled.

He nodded and gave her the hint of a smile. “I’m in pain,” he said evenly. “Got a Bludger in the ribs.” He raised his t-shirt over his chest to show her a nasty bruise.

“Oh God,” she said, stretching a hand to run her fingers over it. “Why didn’t they Heal you?”

“The Healer wasn’t there today,” he said, “and they don’t allow the players to Heal each other. They’ll do it first thing in the morning.” She looked at him with pity, but he brushed her off. “It was my fault,” he said, bringing down his t-shirt again. “I’ve been distracted all day. Thought about last night.” He looked seriously at her. “I hoped you’d come to see me play, today.”

She looked at him, eyes wide. She could feel that stupid swarm of butterflies that always flew around in her stomach when he talked to her like that starting to stir their wings. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I was busy… I… I…” She looked away from him and gasped at the chicken that was turning a dark brown colour. “Blimey!” she exclaimed, extinguishing the fire. “You think it’s still good?”

He stretched a hand and grabbed a strip that was sticking out of the oil.

“Careful! It’s hot!”

He tossed it in his mouth and nodded. “It is hot,” he replied, “but it’s still good.” He stole another one and showed it to Rufus before feeding it to him. “We like it,” he said gently as Rufus chewed enthusiastically on it.

She nodded and started to dish it out, using some kitchen paper to absorb some of the oil. “Fred and Roxy came by this afternoon,” she told him. “They came to see Rufus, stayed the whole afternoon, you know.”

“Did they? I’m surprised my mum hasn’t showed up yet, she loves Kneazles.”

“Well, she knows she’s invited to dinner this Saturday,” she reminded him. “Probably she can’t wait to pet him.”

He nodded. “Shall I set the table? Even though it’s way too early to have dinner.”

“You’re home early,” she pointed out.

“I was sent to the changing room right after I got that Bludger,” he said. “I took a shower, and lay down for a bit, but then I got bored and got a permit to get home earlier.”

“You should have come home straight away,” she told him. “I could have tended to you.”

“You said you were busy.”

She hunched her shoulders a bit. “I was busy playing with Rufus,” she admitted. “The whole day. I should have never brought him home. I didn’t reply to a single letter.” She nodded towards the pile on the table. “Not a single one.” She smiled shyly at him. “But I thought it wouldn’t be that bad… I thought you could help me; if you want to, you know…”

He looked at her for a long moment before replying a dry, “Or you could ask Derek to help you, tomorrow night.”

She looked away, hurt beyond reason by his words and his tone. She didn’t reply, though, she didn’t want to start a fight. Not again, not now, not after the night before.

She nodded meekly and went to the fridge to take out some mayonnaise and some salad, and tomatoes too. She washed the tomatoes and started cutting them up into thin slices, still not looking at him.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled after what seemed like hours. “I’ll help you; of course I’ll help you. I’m looking forward to it.”

“You don’t have to,” she replied, her voice much colder than she had intended. “I’ll do it. You’re hurt, you’re in pain, you—”

Her sentence was interrupted by Hugo’s sudden movements. He grabbed her arm, pulled her to him, and hugged her tightly to his chest, wincing for the pain as he did it. “Have you thought about last night at all?” he asked softly. “Even a little bit.”

“Why are you asking me?” she asked back, sighing.

He looked down at her, his eyes sad as if he couldn’t believe that she would ask something like that. “Lily…”

“Yes, of course I thought about last night,” she finally admitted, wriggling free from his embrace. “All morning, all day, Rufus knows everything about last night. So what? It was a lovely one-time thing, wasn’t it? I don’t need to do it anymore, and you don’t need to help me with that ever again. Isn’t that fantastic?” She could feel her cheeks becoming hotter and hotter as she spoke, while Hugo’s face seemed to become more and more abashed as the words left her lips.

“Fantastic,” he murmured in a way that seemed to mean everything but. He drew out his wand and set the table magically. “Fantastic,” he whispered again almost sadly.

Lily ignored him. She felt like any conversation would now end really badly for them. And she didn’t want that. She wanted to reply to the letters, with or without his help, have dinner, go to bed and then just focus on her date with Derek. Oh! How much she wanted and didn’t want to go now. She didn’t want to spend a whole evening away from Hugo and with another man. And at the same time, she longed to go. She longed to try to feel something for Derek, something that would distract her from her feelings for Hugo.

Feelings that she didn’t have.

Okay, feelings that she had, but she didn’t want to have. Because he didn’t have them for her. Right?

Hugo sat at the table and Lily served him and Rufus before getting some chicken and salad for herself.

“This is delicious,” he mumbled. “You’ve become quite the cook.”

She tasted it. It missed salt, spices, and anything that would give it a bit of flavour, but she appreciated Hugo’s lies.

***

Friday was just uneventful. Nothing remarkable happened, except for Lily receiving an owl from Hugo. The note said, _I’m going out with the guys tonight. See you tomorrow. H._

She threw it away, after having crumbled it up into a tight little ball.

He had helped with the letters the night before, all of them. They had told a little girl to never give up her dream of one day dating her crush – _Look at Ginny Potter!_ –; they had suggested a whole menu for a fiancée inviting her soon-to-be husband’s parents to dinner for the first time; they had hopefully resolved a family feud.

Then they had chatted for a bit, and decided a menu for when their parents were coming to visit as well. Lasagne, roast beef with roasted potatoes, fruit salad with ice-cream, and trifle. Yes, it was ambitious, and Hugo had suggested they kept it simple, but she told him that she trusted him, that he was such a great cook that she was sure he could cook anything he wanted, and he just capitulated to each and every single one of her desires.

“They’re going to marvel at how good we are,” she had giggled.

“We?”

She had grinned at him then. “I’m going to help you from the lasagne to the trifle, you know that, right?” She had placed the menu that she had scribbled on a piece of parchment on the table in front of him. “We’re going to be in the kitchen for the whole day.”

He had cocked an eyebrow at her. “That means that I’ll have to keep an eye on you,” he had said calmly. “Make sure you don’t explode anything.”

“Hey!” But they were both laughing then, and Lily was just glad that everything seemed to be back to normal between them.

But then, he had sent that cold note, and Lily just knew that he was going out with “the guys” as some sort of revenge, just because she was going out with Derek.

All right, she _was_ going out with Derek; she really couldn’t act all jealous because Hugo was going out with Marie. Of course, Marie was “the guys”. Of course, Lily knew. Of course, Hugo knew that she knew. Of course, he knew what effect that would have on her.

Well, Lily didn’t care.

She was going to spend a wonderful evening with Derek. Chatting, talking about food, about art, about work. A grown up evening. And she was looking forward to it.

She had put on some makeup, curled her hair all prettily, she had donned her burgundy dress, one of the many that she had bought in France, and her high-heeled shoes. She did look pretty, all dressed up. She looked at herself in the mirror for minutes, until she noticed that she had started making faces at herself.

She sighed and shook her head. So much for being a grownup.

She walked out of her room and almost stumbled over the newest addition to the family. “Rufus! You’re way too quiet for your own good,” she chastised cheerfully. “And too small.” She picked him up and brought him in the kitchen with her. “Oh man, you’re so little and we’re already leaving you home alone,” she sighed. “We’re a pair of horrible parents, aren’t we?”

Rufus purred in reply as she placed him on the table and got some of his dry food out of the cupboard for him. “I promise we’ll make it up to you tomorrow,” she said gently. “We’re both going to be here the whole day, and on Sunday we’ll take you to the Burrow to meet everybody. Exciting, isn’t it?”

She filled the bowl with food and put him down next to it as she replaced the water with some fresh one. “You be a good Kneazle and stand guard of the house, okay?” she said. “Don’t let any robber in here.”

Rufus didn’t even look up at her, he just kept on munching on his food.

She sighed and finally made her way to the door. She walked out of the flat, locked the door and went to the nearest Apparition point.

Soon, she was standing in front of Derek’s door, without a single present or some sort of dessert like ordinary people used to bring when they were invited at someone’s house for dinner.

Well, but usually when one was invited, they didn’t have to cook their own food, right?

She knocked on the door and waited patiently. Not that she had to wait long at all, for Derek was there before she even had time to withdraw her hand.

“Hi,” he said, as he opened the door and smiled warmly. “You look dashing.”

She smiled back and stepped inside. “Thank you,” she replied, stretching her neck to kiss his cheek. “It’s not too much, is it? To cook, I mean… Should I have worn something less… fancy?”

He smiled gently as he closed the door. “No, no,” he assured her. “It’s sweet that you dressed up for me.”

She gave him a funny look. “Of course,” she replied. “It’s our date.”

His smile turned into a grin; he placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the kitchen, where both the table and the counter were covered with prepared ingredients that only needed to be put together. “I think I have a smaller apron,” he said, “which is not too manly…”

“I should have brought mine, but to be honest I don’t have one,” she said, as she looked at him rummaging through his cupboard. “Hugo does the cooking most of the time.” She pursed her lips. “Except for last night, when I cooked some bland chicken—oh, and I got I Kneazle, did I tell you?”

“You didn’t,” he said, standing up and showing her a clean, light blue apron. “It’s still going to be big for you, but at least we’ll be sure to cover your beautiful dress.”

She took it from his hands and thanked him.

“Tell me about the Kneazle,” he said, donning an apron himself. “Is it a kitten or you got an adult?”

“A kitten. Oh God, he’s the cutest thing ever,” she sighed, as she tied the apron on her back. “We called him Rufus, it’s a redhead, you know. So now there are three of us in our flat.”

“You could have brought him, tonight,” he said, smiling, “or is he home with Hugo?”

Lily shook her head. “Actually, Hugo has gone out with his friends and with Marie. But I fed Rufus and told him to guard the flat for us.” She glanced at the table. “You prepared everything, Derek. It must have taken you hours.”

He winked at her. “Hey, I’m a wizard, remember?”

“You’re right,” she replied, blushing slightly. “So, what are we going to cook tonight?”

“Hmm, a lot of things,” he replied. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“Always.”

“Well, then.” He turned on the cooker under a big pot filled with water. “We’re going to have pasta carbonara, bacon wrapped meatloaf with baked potatoes, and a strawberry shortcake layer cake." He grinned at her and almost chuckled when he noticed her astonished expression.

“All these things?” she asked in disbelief. “When are we going to eat?”

He stretched a hand towards her and she took it. He pulled her in front of the cooker and squeezed her hand into his. “Very soon, I swear,” he promised. “Can you take care of the carbonara sauce?”

“If you tell me what to do,” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“Of course, Lily,” he assured her. “Pour some oil into the frying pan, not too much, we don’t want it to be too greasy,” he said, “and when it’s hot enough fry the bacon, without browning it. We need to re-heat it right before we serve it.”

He stood right next to her, in front of a bowl filled with ground meat; he poured breadcrumbs, an egg, milk and other ingredients in it and started kneading all those ingredients with his fingers. “I washed my hands,” he said when he noticed that she was looking at him. “I promise.”

She smiled. “And even if you haven’t, we’re going to cook it, right?” she giggled. “What else do I have to do while I wait for the oil to get hot?”

“Can you mix three eggs, that grated cheese there and some pepper into a bowl? Until it gets all creamy and nice,” he said. “In the meantime, I’ll shape this into a nice meatloaf.”

She nodded and got down to work. The instructions were easy enough, and Derek was good and polite when he suggested she did something different to make her mixing more effective.

“So, I talked to my father this morning,” said Derek as he placed the meatloaf on an casserole. “He was complaining once again about your more explicit letters…”

Lily looked at him, rolling her eyes not so subtly. “He was definitely talking about my reply to a girl asking for help about her first experience with anal sex,” she said. “I might have used some words that are rarely seen on a newspaper, but I needed to be clear and direct, I certainly couldn’t embellish my explanation with euphemisms that would only confuse her.”

He nodded seriously. “That’s what I told my father,” he said, “that you had to be informative and straightforward.” He looked at her. “And that I always find your letters very well written and educative.”

She smiled warmly at him. “Thank you, Derek, that’s really sweet.” She kept mixing the eggs and cheese and added, “I always do a lot of research, you know. I always feel like I’m being dishonest to the readers because I’m not really their beloved Lavender, so I feel the urge to either ask people who know more than me on a subject, look up stuff in books, or try out some things.”

“What kind of things do you try out?” he asked, genuinely interested.

Lily stopped her mixing to tip the bacon into the frying pan. It sizzled cheerfully, filling the kitchen with its delicious smell. She pretended to focus on the task while she was actually focusing on what to reply. After a while she said, “Oh you know, some people ask for recipes, some others need to know a way to break some sort of news with their parents or their significant other, and we role-play or try out the recipe before we decide if it’s good enough to be written…”

“We?”

“Hugo and I,” she went on, keeping on stirring. “He’s been… he’s been very helpful. I couldn’t keep up with all the letters if it wasn’t for him.”

“I like Hugo,” said Derek, smiling. “We talked a bit at Rose’s party, and he was a fun lad.”

Lily’s lips stretched into a smile. “He is, isn’t he? He’s like, you know, the annoying guy who is good at everything he does: sports, academics, cooking. And on top of that, he’s nice and helpful and patient, and you can’t really get annoyed at him for how perfect he is, because that’s just unfair.” She sighed overdramatically. “Everybody likes him. It’s such a hard life to live with him. Sometimes he involuntarily makes me feel like I am doing nothing at all with my life.”

“What are you talking about?” he said warmly. “You’ve just got out of school and you’re already working hard to fulfil your dream of becoming a Quidditch correspondent.” He smiled. “And you think you’re not doing anything with your life: you’re young, Lily, and you’re already giving all you got to this job that you didn’t even like that much. You have to be very proud of yourself.”

“Thank you,” she said, grinning. “It’s just that sometimes I’d like to have some kind of talent, like you do, or like Hugo with Quidditch. But I’m not good with anything.”

“You’re good at writing,” he said calmly. “You increased the paper’s sale with your column.” He smiled. “And you’re beautiful… I mean, that’s a great talent, if you ask me.”

“Oh stop it,” she said, blushing profusely. “You’re just being nice.”

“No, no, I’m serious. And you’re very mature for your age,” he went on, “and you’re a great cook—by the way, I think that bacon is turning a bit too brown, if you ask me…”

“Oh blimey!”

He chuckled as she turned off the cooker and gasped.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” She turned to look at him, but he was laughing heartily. “You distracted me with all your compliments!” she accused him.

“Guilty as charged,” he said, winking. “Don’t worry, I like my bacon crispy.”

She grinned and stirred the bacon a little. It wasn’t that bad; crispy, yes, definitely, but not burnt. Not yet. She looked at the water, it was boiling. “Shall I put the pasta in?”

He hummed in reply, and when she turned to look at him, she saw that he was busy shaping the meatloaf and covering it in an artistic pattern of waved bacon.

“That looks good,” she said, licking her lips.

“I hope so,” he replied. “It’s the first time I make it. It’s one of my mother’s recipes.”

“Thank you for sharing it with me,” she said, smiling.

He looked at her and smiled back. “Yes, by the way, I think you can really put that pasta in now.”

She did: she added a generous fistful of spaghetti to the water. She pushed them down with a wooden spoon until they were all under the boiling water and stirred them.

“Excuse me,” he said, as he stood behind her. “Would you open the oven for me, Lily?”

“Of course,” she replied. She opened it and was invested by a warm gust of wind.

“Careful,” he said as he pushed the meatloaf in and closed the oven door. “I’d say we’re doing a great job, don’t you think?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “This is quite easy,” she admitted. “Of course, you prepared everything already. I just know that it’s not going to be this easy, tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” he asked as he went back to the table. “Would you help me with the cake, Lily? Can you mix the dry ingredients and then add the eggs, vanilla and milk?” He nodded towards the ingredients that he had prepared for her, all she had to do was pour them together in one bowl and mix them, nothing too hard indeed.

“Of course I can,” she replied while Derek cut the potatoes into halves and spread butter onto them before setting them on a plate.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Oh, Hugo and I are having our parents over, didn’t I tell you?” she replied.

“Actually, I think you did,” he said thoughtfully. “Are you going to cook for them, too?”

“Hugo and I decided the whole menu already,” she said, nodding, “but I think we’ll need to do some grocery shopping. We’ve decided to make so many things, but I’m sure our fridge is a bit on the empty side.”

“What are you going to cook?”

“Hmm, lasagne, roast beef and roasted potatoes, and a trifle. Oh! And I’ll make a fruit salad and we’ll buy ice-cream. I can’t actually wait, you know. I hope my parents brought me something from Italy. A bag maybe…”

“You like clothes, don’t you?” he asked amusedly. “You’re always very well dressed.”

“I love clothes,” she admitted with a sigh, nodding. “It’s not my fault if they are so beautiful and you have to buy new ones every season to follow the fashion trends.”

“So clothes are a safe bet for a present for you, right?” he said gently. “When’s your birthday?”

“Oh it was back in May, actually,” she said. “When’s yours?”

“October,” he replied. “And if you’re interested I really want a new set of brushes.”

She raised her eyes to look at him, a bit taken aback, but he just started laughing. “I’m joking, I’m joking,” he hurried to say. “Don’t worry.”

“Too late, you’ll get a new set of brushes for your birthday,” she said, smiling. Of course, that meant that they would still be frequenting each other by October, but Lily couldn’t see what the problem was. He was a fine young man, every girl would be lucky to frequent him.

Well, okay, the problem might have been that the butterflies in her stomach were very quiet when she was with Derek. All the contrary than when she was with Hugo. But that was silly, she could not base her relationships on what she felt in her stomach.

“I think you’ve mixed that enough,” he said. “Now you have to pour the batter in the pan and we’ll put it in the oven. Hmm… the pasta is almost ready too, shall we stop the cooking and wait for everything else to be ready?”

“Stop the cooking?” she asked surprised.

He drew out his wand. “ _Arresto Momentum_ ,” he said. The water stopped its boiling and the pasta froze in there.

“That’s brilliant!” exclaimed Lily. “I’ve never thought about using that spell like that!” She went to look at the pot; the pasta seemed to be floating in clear jelly. Ingenious! “Wow…”

“My mother wouldn’t approve,” he sighed. “She says that food has to cook at its own pace.”

“I bet my grandma wouldn’t either,” she chuckled. “But I approve big time, Derek. I’m going to use it tomorrow to impress Hugo.”

“He’s going to be very impressed indeed,” he assured her with a grin. “Shall we keep going with the cake?” He opened the oven, checked on the meatloaf and stuffed the potatoes in there too. Then he muttered another spell and he was putting in the cake as well.

“Your oven is bigger than it seems,” she said thoughtfully.

“Extension Charm,” he admitted. “I like to multitask in the kitchen.” He turned towards the table. “I can make the buttercream. You can relax a little, you’ve already worked hard.”

“No, no, I’ll help you,” she replied, “and this strawberry cake sounds delicious, I wouldn’t mind trying to make it at home as well.”

“I hope it’ll turn out alright,” he admitted. “I haven’t made it in a long time. Here. I’ll slice the strawberries we need to garnish the cake, and you can make the buttercream. Just mix all these things together until they’re all fluffy and soft.”

She nodded seriously and poured the sugar on top of the butter, starting with sure movements to mix them together. It was tiring but the butter was already softened and the process didn’t take long. “Like this is—what?” She blinked as she looked at him.

He was smiling and when their eyes met, he shook his head slightly. “Nothing,” he hurried to say. “You’re just so beautiful when you’re all focused on something.”

She lowered her eyes again, blushing. “Oh, I’m sure I’m all red and sweaty…” she babbled. “Not beautiful at all.”

“I’m dreaming about the moment you’ll let me kiss you,” he whispered gently.

Lily started mixing with more force, butter and sugar flying everywhere. “I’m really nothing special,” she muttered. “I’m like any other girl that you’ve kissed. Don’t… don’t dream about kissing me.”

“No other girl is like you.”

She bit her bottom lip and suddenly her movements slowed down. She didn’t quite remember what she had to do and which ingredients were missing. Had she already put the dried strawberries in? And the sugar? “You’re distracting me again,” she protested weakly. “You want to make me go wrong and then laugh at me.”

“See? That’s what I love about you,” he said gently. “You don’t even try to be cute or flirty, you’re just naturally beautiful and spontaneous and I feel like I’m special because you agreed to go out with me.”

She was pushing the spoon into the buttercream without nerve now. Listening to his words and waiting for the butterflies to take off in her stomach. It still didn’t happen. “Thank you,” she replied, without looking at him. “But you… you idealise me too much, I’m really not that special, you know. Really.”

“I think you underestimate yourself, Lily,” he said. “I think you are special, I think every guy would feel lucky just to be standing near you like I am doing now.”

She looked at him, pleading him with her eyes to stop talking. Guilt was gnawing at her now. The more he talked, the more she wanted to be home with Hugo. Why? Why was she such a horrible person? Why couldn’t she like Derek the way she liked Hugo? Why couldn’t she like Hugo like a friend? Why? What was wrong with her?

He smiled at her and she decided to get even with him. “You’re fantastic too, you know,” she said anxiously. “Every girl would be lucky to be your girlfriend. You’re caring and sweet and respectful and gentle, and… and…” She squeezed the wooden spoon in her hand until her knuckles were all white; she chewed on her bottom lip, not knowing what to say next.

“Thank you,” he said. “You’re sweet.”

“I’m just stating the truth,” she replied quietly. “But let’s… let’s stop complimenting each other, okay? Tell me… tell me something about the portrait you’re painting. The one of the Minister. How’s it going?”

He looked pleasantly surprised that she had remembered what he was doing. “Oh, very well, Lily, thank you,” he said. “It’s actually finished; I only have to put the spell on it.”

“The spell?”

“To make it move,” he replied. “I can show it to you, after dinner, if you want to.”

“I’d love that,” she admitted. “Wow, am I going to be the first one to see it finished?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I haven’t even showed it to my parents.”

“Now I feel special,” she grinned.

He grinned back, but didn’t go on with the praises on her non-existing qualities. Instead, the oven buzzed and that let them know that the meatloaf, the potatoes and the cake were ready.

She helped Derek taking them out.

“We need to let the cake cool down,” he said, “and then assemble it with the buttercream and decorate it. I’ll put the meatloaf under a Heating Charm, shall I?”

She nodded in reply. “That’s cool, you know,” she said. “The way you use all the spells you know to make the food slow down its cooking or to keep it warm. I mean, we do that too, but you just… you look so confident with what you do, it feels natural.”

“I’m a cheater,” he chuckled. “That’s what you mean.”

“I mean you’re clever,” she said gently. “Much cleverer than me.”

He shook his head. “I’d tell you that you’re clever, and mature, and super intelligent, but then you’d be accusing me of distracting you, wouldn’t you?”

She nodded and giggled. “Probably,” she agreed. “Come on let’s cool down that cake with magic, too, because I’m starving.”

He used first a Cooling Spell and then a Severing Charm to cut the cake into two layers, and finally he started to spread the buttercream between the layers. When he had assembled the cake back together, he pushed it towards her. “Do you want to decorate it?” he asked her gently. “You just have to cover it with the remaining buttercream and then put some fresh strawberries on top.”

“Oh God,” she said as she started. “You’re not going to laugh at me if whatever comes out is completely and utterly unartistic, right?”

“I promise,” he said. “I’ll set the table in the meantime.”

“Oh, shall I move to the counter?”

“No, don’t worry, I’ll set the other table,” he said, with a smile.

The other table was the table in the dining room, and Lily tried strenuously to tell him that there was no need for him to set the table there, but he dismissed her protestations with the excuse that the kitchen was a mess. She was sure that they could have cleaned it up with a flick of their wands, but he was already whistling and disappearing out of the kitchen.

She focused on the cake. She spread more buttercream on one side instead of the other, and had to take off some to cover every bit of it. She licked her fingers clean when she finished and then proceeded to lick the spoon and the bowl too. He chuckled when he came back and she offered him a finger to lick.

He did, and then suck it into his mouth until it was completely clean. Lily bit her bottom lip as he gave her a teasing bite on her fingertip. “Hey, I’m not edible,” she said, just like she did with Rufus the night before.

He grinned back. “Shall I drain the pasta and dress it while you finish it? Dinner is going to be in less than five minutes, is that enough time for you?”

“Absolutely,” she said, nodding forcefully as she started putting the strawberries on top. “I’m starving.”

“Me too,” he replied. He drained the spaghetti, heated the bacon without letting it get even crispier, and then finally added the sauce and mixed everything together. He stirred vigorously and just as Lily put the last strawberry on the cake, he announced that the pasta was ready.

They placed the cake in the fridge and moved into the dining room. She almost gasped at the table. It was definitely a very romantic sight: candles on the table, lilies in a small vase, linen napkins, fine china plates, and silver cutlery.

“Derek!” she chastised him. “This is definitely too much.”

He placed the pasta on the table and walked behind her. She felt his hands on the small of her back, undoing the knots of the apron before he helped her out of it. He took off his own as well, and then he offered her a glass of some sort of bubbly, colourful liquid. “Hope you like watermelon,” he said. “This is a family recipe. Watermelon Lemonade, non-alcoholic, I’m afraid, but it’s refreshing.” He raised his glass and clinked it with hers. “Cheers, Lily.”

“To a wonderful dinner,” she said, sipping from her glass.

“To us,” he said.

She licked her lips and took another gulp. “Refreshing,” she said, “and sweet.”

“You like it?”

“Very much,” she said. “You have to give me the recipe; I need to make it for Hugo. He loves these kinds of fruity drinks.”

“Me too. Shall we eat? Before the pasta gets cold…”

He moved the chair back for her and filled her plate with lots of pasta. They ate and chatted throughout the whole dinner. Everything was delicious: the pasta, the meatloaf, the potatoes, even the cake was absolutely fantastic. She was about to say just that, when she remembered that she had made it all by herself.

“Wow,” she murmured as she took another piece. “I can’t believe I made this. You’re a great teacher, you know?”

“You’re a great student, though.”

Lily looked pointedly at him. “Oh stop it,” she said. “Can’t you just take a compliment, without having to compliment me back?” She smiled. “Thank you, Derek, really, but you’re too nice. You don’t have to be that nice to me.”

He smiled back. “I like to be nice to you, Lily,” he said, “and I’ll continue being nice to you forever and ever.”

She raised a hand. “Alright, alright,” she said. “Can you take me to see Kingsley’s portrait now? Otherwise I’ll finish the whole cake all by myself…”

“You can take it home with you,” he said, as he stood. “And let Hugo try it.”

She stood up too, scooping up one last forkful of buttercream. “Thank you, he’ll love it.” She followed him into his study. The pungent smell of paint reached her nostrils immediately, but he hurried to open the window and let some fresh air in.

“Here it is,” he said. “Do you think it’s any good? Do you think I managed to capture the Minister’s essence?” He pointed unnecessarily towards the gigantic canvas that was placed on an easel in the middle of the room. Minister Shacklebolt was looking at them with his usual calm and reassuring stare. A half-smile on his lips as he stood straight and tall.

“Wow,” she said, getting closer.

“You like it?”

She nodded, looking at each and every single detail. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “It looks so… so real. It’s almost as if he could move any moment.”

“It will move any moment,” he said. “Do you want to see how to put a spell on it?”

She nodded again, turning to look at him. “I’ve never seen it performed.”

“Oh, it’s very easy,” he came to stand next to her. “It’s like any other incantation.” He pointed his wand and murmured a charm. A warm, red light hit the portrait and suddenly Minister Shacklebolt was rubbing his eyes and stretching as if he had just woken up.

“Where did you learn that?” she asked in awe.

“I took a course in painting after Hogwarts,” he said. “Here in England and then in Paris. It was very interesting.”

Lily turned to look at him. “So, if you paint me, you’re going to use the charm on my painting as well?”

“If you want to,” he said, nodding. “Alas, the charm won’t give your tiny painted self your own feelings and thoughts. But you can teach it to talk and behave like you do.”

“Hello,” said the Minister suddenly. “Thank you for creating me, Mr Painter.”

“My pleasure, Minister,” replied Derek politely.

He cocked his head and nodded. “Minister? Minister of what? Sounds important.”

“Very much,” said Lily. “You’re Minister for Magic.”

He nodded again. “I like the sound of that. Minister for Magic. Minister for Magic…”

Lily giggled and Derek looked at her.

“So you still want me to paint you,” he stated.

She shrugged a shoulder. “If you still want to, and if it doesn’t interfere with your job or your free time… I mean, mainly if you still want to, though… you know?”

“I’d love to,” he said, stretching a hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’ll need more than one sitting to render all this beauty on canvas, though.”

She bit her bottom lip. “You’re too nice,” she whispered, as he cupped her cheek. “Stop being so nice.”

“Never,” he whispered back as he leant forward to kiss her.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter is filled with the Lugo!!
> 
> I completely forgot to add one thing about the 150th comment challenge: if the 150th comment is from someone who doesn't want to participate or couldn't care less about a sequel (might even be a flamer, right? Not that anybody has flamed this yet *crosses fingers nobody ever will*), we'll move on to the 151st comment. And so on until we find someone who is interested. Sounds good? :) 
> 
> As always thank you for your awesome comments! I love you all to bits! xx

***

Lily opened her door and let out a loud gasp while her heart jolted in her chest almost painfully. Rufus trotted towards her, seemingly unaware of the fright he caused her, and Hugo raised his head to look at her from the sofa.

“Oh God!” she exclaimed as the Kneazle rubbed himself all over her ankles, purring loudly. “You two want to kill me.” She pressed a hand over her chest where her heart was beating loudly against her ribcage.

“Did you have a nice evening?” Hugo asked her coldly. “You’re home late.”

She turned to close and lock the door and to roll her eyes without letting him see her. “And you’re home early,” she pointed out, turning again. “Did you not have fun with ‘the guys’?” She signed that between inverted commas in the air.

“I had fun, thank you,” he replied frostily, the end of his sentence slightly slurred. “I got to know Marie a bit more intimately tonight. It was _very_ nice.”

Lily felt the words cut through her chest while his tone pushed little needles into her heart. She glared at him. “Good for you,” she hissed. She strode past the sofa and then stopped and went back to him. She pushed a plate covered in tinfoil in his hands rather roughly.

“What—”

“A piece of cake that I made at Derek’s,” she hissed. “For you.” She turned away from him to head to her room, and didn’t even turn back to look at his face when she heard the tinfoil being unwrapped.

God, she had spent the evening thinking about him. She had even lowered her head when Derek had tried to kiss her and he had ended up kissing her forehead instead. She had trailed kisses all over his neck afterwards, but always steering clear of his lips. And for the whole time, she had just thought about Hugo. About how much she wanted to be home with him. He so didn’t deserve a second of her—

“Let me go,” she thundered, when his arms circled her from behind.

He didn’t unwrap his arms from around her stomach, instead he squeezed her mightily.

“I’m serious, Hugo.” She wriggled in his embrace. “If you don’t let me go, I’m going to hex you.”

“Shit,” he whispered near her ear. “You said I’m overprotective, you said it. I’m sorry.”

“This is not overprotectiveness,” she snapped. “This is being a dick.”

“You were with your boyfriend,” he whispered. “I’m… I’m jealous.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she bit out, “and I wasn’t screwing him.”

“I didn’t screw Marie,” he whispered. “I swear.”

She gritted her teeth. “Let me go,” she repeated.

“Don’t be mad at me,” he said softly, lowering his head to press his lips against the base of her neck, “please. I’m drunk and a dick and I love you. Don’t be mad at me, Lils.”

Her face darkened for a moment, her back tensing up against his chest. Then she let out the breath she was holding and tried to relax. It was late and she didn’t want to be mad at him. “I’m not mad,” she said flatly.

“Promise?” He sounded very much like a child, and Lily capitulated at his tone.

“Promise,” she sighed.

He unclenched his arms from around her and she turned around. He was looking quite abashed now. “I threw up on Julia’s shoes,” he said, his cheeks colouring.

Lily felt guilty that that piece of news made her feel so happy. “I would have wanted to see that,” she said, unable to keep a smile off her face. “Did Julia hex you?”

“Almost,” he replied quietly. “Marie saved me.”

“Well, very chivalrous of her.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Will you have the cake with me?” he asked quietly.

“I’m stuffed, Hugo,” she replied. “And it’s for you. I swear it’s very good.”

“Not even a tiny bit?” he asked again. “It’ll be our midnight snack.”

“I’m going to be sick if I have another tiny bit.”

“But I haven’t seen you all day,” he insisted, his voice still a bit slurred and a bit whiney. “We need to talk about tomorrow night.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “No, we don’t,” she said. “We’ve talked extensively yesterday. And we’ve got all day tomorrow.”

“Lily,” he said, his voice a heart-breaking whisper. “Lily, Lily, Lils, please, my pretty Lily-flower, please…” He stepped towards her and tried to hug her again, but she pushed him back with a hand on his chest.

“You smell of alcohol, Hugo,” she said. “Eat the cake, take a shower and go to bed.”

He grabbed her hand on his chest and brought it to his lips to kiss her fingers. “Your bed?” he asked with a lopsided grin.

Oh man! He was drunk and unsexy and yet the butterflies took off in her stomach and swirled uncontrollably around at his suggestion. “No,” she replied, her voice quivering slightly. “I don’t want you to throw up on my shoes, thank you very much.”

He seemed hurt by her words, but his eyes were a bit glazed over, so she couldn’t really tell. He nodded disconsolately and let her hand go. He stepped back, a bit unstable on his legs, and sat at the table. He unwrapped the tinfoil completely and grabbed the cake with his hands, bringing it to his mouth. “‘Tis good,” he said, his mouth full. “Very good. You’re good.”

She smiled indulgently at him and crouched on the floor to pick up Rufus. “Good night, Hugo,” she said mildly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Nighty night, Lily-flower,” he called after her.

She couldn’t help smiling again as she squeezed Rufus to her chest and walked to her room.

***

When Lily woke up the following morning, her room was immersed in an unnatural silence. Rufus was licking his paws right next to her face, and she couldn’t hear anything except his rough tongue brushing against the ginger fur.

She stretched her hands and grabbed him, pulling him to her until he was against her chest. “Daddy is up already,” she murmured sleepily. “He enchanted our room to keep it nice and quiet, but I’m sure he’s already doing some kind of Quidditch-related exercise.” She yawned. “But we’re going to stay in bed for another good hour, aren’t we?”

Rufus didn’t seem to think that at all. He wiggled free from her hands and started to bite her nose and lick her face.

“No,” she grumbled, “no, bad Kneazle…” But it was only half-hearted. She grabbed her wand blindly from the bedside table and opened the door. “Go,” she said, pushing him away. “Go, ask your daddy to feed you.”

She heard him jumping down from her bed and then she glanced as he walked with his tail up high through the ajar door and into the corridor. Then he was gone and Lily could go back to sleep.

Or so she thought because, before she could even close the door again, Rufus was back into the room, meowing insistently, while Hugo was crouched on the floor at her doorframe. “Hey, come here,” he whispered. “Here, Rufus. Let her sleep. I said I’m sorry, I didn’t see you!”

“Hmm,” murmured Lily. “What did you do to my Kneazle?”

“I threw him a Quaffle,” he sighed, “but I didn’t see him, I swear.”

“Did you hit him?” she asked, looking sternly at Hugo.

“No.”

“You scared him then,” she stated.

“Yeah.”

She stretched her arms over the edge of the mattress and grabbed the quivering Kneazle from under the bed. When she put him back on the pillow, he got under the sheets and hid against her chest. “My poor baby,” she said soothingly. “Daddy was mean to you, wasn’t he?”

“I wasn’t,” protested Hugo. “He just sneaked up on me and I didn’t see him.”

Lily sunk her nose into his fur. “Daddy is probably still drunk from last night,” she murmured. “That’s why he didn’t see you, Rufus.”

“I’m not drunk,” he muttered, standing from the floor. “I was throwing the Quaffle around a bit, getting a bit of exercise done before you woke up.”

“Hmm, to make me feel even more useless. Thank you, Hugo.”

“No,” he replied seriously. “I wanted to chat with you while we have breakfast, so I squeezed my workout in before you woke up and after I’ve cast your room under a Silencing Charm, so that you could sleep for as long as you wanted.”

She glanced up at him, then pushed her sheets back and patted the bed next to her. He walked to her slowly and almost awkwardly, and sat down. She wormed her way to him and hugged his waist, placing her head in his lap.

“So you’re back to normal,” she murmured as he stretched a hand to rub Rufus who was now squeezed between the two of them.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “I’m sorry about last night. I was pissed.”

“I know,” she replied. “All’s forgotten and forgiven. Let’s talk about today.”

He placed a hand on her back and ran his fingers over her spine while he rubbed between Rufus’ ears. “What about today?”

“You wanted to talk about today,” she reminded him.

There was a pause, as if he was trying to decide what to say next. ”Do you need help with the letters?” he finally asked.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Do we have time?”

“Well, we’re not going to cook all day, are we?” he asked. “You cooked on Friday night—”

“And it was bland…”

“—you cooked yesterday with Derek—”

“I didn’t do much, just followed his instructions…”

“—and you’re going to cook today with me. I don’t think you want to spend a whole day cooking once again.” He took a deep breath, probably getting ready to ask her something else. Something difficult to ask. “Did you have fun last night with Derek?”

She bit her bottom lip, thinking hard about the night before. “Derek is sweet…”

“But?” he asked quickly.

“Nothing, he’s just sweet.”

She could hear him swallow. “Do you like him, Lily?” he whispered. “Do you like him very, very much? Like… will you… can you see yourself… like in a relationship with him?”

She lowered her eyes and stared at his fingers while he rubbed Rufus’ head. She couldn’t reply to that. She had no clue what to reply in the first place. She couldn’t tell him the truth because she didn’t know what the truth was. She decided to completely ignore his questions in favour of a change of subject. “I think my Kneazle is hungry,” she said. “We better give him something to eat soon before he starts tearing the house down.”

“Lily…” he murmured disconsolately. His hand closed on her shoulder blade, as if he was trying to keep her there. But when she pushed herself up, he let her go. He didn’t look at her as she sat up and Rufus started mewing in her lap. She scooped him up in her arms and pushed the sheets away. “Shall we go?”

He nodded softly, but didn’t reply.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I am in dire need of a piece of advice. The other day, I had a heated argument with my boyfriend and we screamed horrible things at each other. Things that we didn’t mean._
> 
> _And then something happened: he hit me. He slapped me quite hard and unexpectedly. Then we went very quiet. Both of us. We were in shock. He apologised straight away, though, and hasn’t stopped apologising ever since._
> 
> _I know he is seriously sorry and I really want to forgive him, but at the same time now, I’m scared that he’ll do it again._
> 
> _What should I do, Lavender? Am I too harsh on him? Should I forgive him? I’m very confused at the moment. I love him, but I’m scared something like this might happen again._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Lulu88_

***

Rufus seemed to have forgiven Hugo; he was standing on his hind legs, pressing his front paws on Hugo’s chest and trying to reach little treats that his daddy was showing him.

Hugo laughed every time Rufus would stretch all his tiny body like an accordion to reach the treat, and then he chuckled when the Kneazle would munch on it with great concentration.

“Have you heard a word I read?” asked Lily, as she drew her legs to her chest and balanced the pile of letters on top of her bent knees. She looked pointedly at him and waited for his answer.

“All of them,” he replied as he turned towards her. “I didn’t know you were waiting for my opinion.”

She rolled her eyes half-heartedly. “I always do, Hugo,” she said calmly.

“Thank you, Lily,” he said just as calmly, grinning brightly at her. “Well, isn’t that an easy letter to reply to?”

“You think so?” She tilted her head and glanced down at the letter again. “Yeah, it is.” She took her quill and dunked it in the inkbottle. “I mean, if she loves him, I don’t see why she can’t forgive him. Obviously he’s as upset as she is by the incident.” She lowered her hand to the parchment to finally draft a reply to the letter, but Hugo’s fingers closed around her wrist before she could write the first letter.

“What are you doing?” he asked, looking intently at her.

“Writing the reply?” she asked back, furrowing her brow.

“Yeah, okay… Not what you just said, though, are you?” he questioned, looking more concerned than Lily had expected.

“What are you talking about?” she said, trying to wiggle her hand from his fingers. “Of course that one.”

His jaw dropped. “Lily, you can’t suggest a girl to stay in an abusive relationship,” he said. “That’s… that’s a big no.”

“Abusive relationship,” she scoffed. “He just hit her once, Hugo. They were fighting. Probably, he didn’t even know what he was doing and he seems genuinely sorry for it.”

“She’s scared of him,” he went on, still not releasing her wrist. “She has to break up with him.”

“What? She loves him!”

“He hit her, Lily,” he said, looking at her as if she was crazy. “You can’t… You don’t hit girls. Never. _Ever_.”

“He was surely upset,” she repeated, finally managing to wriggle free from his hand.

He sat back on the sofa and looked seriously at her. “Okay,” he said. “You go out with Derek, you have a row with him, and he slaps you. Would you go back to him?”

She shook her head. “Derek would never do it,” she replied lightly. “He’s too sweet. It’s more likely that I slap him first.”

“Okay,” he repeated. “You’re _my_ girlfriend. We fight over the state you leave the bathroom in after every shower you take. You scream at me that I care too much about these things, that you don’t care what I think about a stupid bathroom, that you don’t have time to tidy up after every shower you take. You scream at me, and I scream at you. You poke me in the chest with your pointy and painful finger, and I just lose it and slap you so hard that you have to grab something to stay upright.” He raised his hands next to his face. “I say I’m sorry. I help you to your feet. I promise I’ll never do it again. But I’ve done it once already, I could always do it the next time too; after all, you’re going to forgive me, aren’t you? I was upset; I didn’t know what got into me. I’ll use the same excuse next time, too. And you’ll believe me. And maybe, the time after that, I won’t even have to say I’m sorry. I’ll just hit you. After all, you love me; you’ll forgive me, right?” He pressed his lips together. “Am I right, Lily?”

She lowered her eyes, biting her bottom lip as she thought about his words. God! If Hugo hit her, she would flee the flat and never come back. She would never forgive him. She would be scared to be in the same room as he was for the rest of her life.

That girl was in an abusive relationship; Lily couldn’t suggest her to stay with her boyfriend. He hit her. He might do it again. What was wrong with her? Why had she thought about suggesting those things to the poor girl?

“Can I ask you something, Lily?”

She looked up at him, eyes wide, and nodded.

“Can you please let me know if any of your past boyfriends ever did as much as touch you in the wrong way?” he said. “Because I’m going to beat the shit out of whoever dares to lay a finger on you, is that clear?”

She hunched her shoulders a little. “You’re overprotective,” she murmured.

“I know. I don’t care.”

She smiled shyly. “Because you know I like it,” she said in a whisper.

“Because I would really do that.”

She looked away from him. “Nobody has ever laid a finger on me,” she assured him. “I have two older brothers and a horde of cousins; nobody is stupid enough to even anger me.” She looked back at him and smiled again. “Although, Al pulled my hair when I was five, so if you want to avenge me, I’ll cheer while you beat the shit out of him… After all, you’re one foot taller than him, I’m sure it’s not going to be difficult.”

He looked seriously at her, moved Rufus on the armrest, and then nodded. “I’m on it,” he said as he stood up.

“What?” The letters, parchment, and quill fell to the floor as she knelt on the sofa and grabbed his arm. “I was joking, you overprotective fool!”

He laughed and sat back down. “I know,” he said. “Me too.”

She glared at him before sitting back on the other end of the sofa. “Not funny,” she growled.

“Well, I’m laughing.”

“And I’m not.”

He smiled mischievously, then his hands were on her waist and he was tickling her mercilessly.

“No, Hugo! No!” she screamed, trying to fend off his assault and laughing despite herself. “Let me go! No! Hugo!”

He let her grab his hands and she looked at him, trying hard not to laugh. “Stop it,” she said. “You’re not funny.”

“You’re laughing now,” he said, moving his hands under his fingers.

She tightened her grasp. “It’s because you’re tickling me, Hugo,” she protested. “Stop it. I’m not a child.”

He leant a bit forward, until he was hovering over her. “You’re as tall as a child, does that count?”

She stuck out her tongue. “I’m not. It’s you the one who’s ridiculously tall.”

He grinned before freeing himself from her hands and finally starting to tickle her again.

“Hugo!” She was giggling again.

“Prepare for my revenge, you Lilliputian person,” he chuckled.

“Lilli—what?” she asked breathlessly.

“Lilliputian, you little—ouch! Blimey!”

He fell back against the sofa just as Lily’s knee came down between the two of them. He brought both hands to his nose and scrunched up his eyes. “Damn, you’re sdrong.”

“Oh God.” She knelt next to him and tried to peer past his fingers. “You’re bleeding! Does it hurt? Oh God. Did I break your nose?”

He moved his hands away and tried to wrinkle his nose a little. “Id hurds,” he said, “bud id’s nod broken. Or so I dhing.”

“I’m so sorry,” she hurried to say. “Let me Heal you.” She drew out her wand and pointed it to him. “ _Episkey_ ,” she murmured and soon his nose got back to his normal shape with a little crack that probably meant that it really had been broken. “ _Tergeo_ ,” she added, and the blood disappeared from his face. “Better?”

“Yes, little nose-breaker,” he said, touching it with his fingers to check its integrity.

She cocked her head and pursed her lips. “So if we were in a relationship, you’d break up with me now, right?” She grinned. “Because I’m an abusive girlfriend who hits you.”

“Exactly,” he replied calmly.

“You wouldn’t stay with me even if I said that I was sorry, right?”

“Right.”

She straightened up her back and placed her arms around his neck. “Not even if I did this?” she asked, kissing his nose.

He slid his hands on her back. “No.”

“Or this.” She kissed his cheek, and then the other.

He shook his head, looking resolutely at her.

She turned around and sat on his lap. “What if I gave you head to apologise?” she whispered in his ear. “Would that give me a chance?” She kissed his neck and sucked on his pulse point under his ear.

His hands travelled south, until they reached her hip and his fingers brushed against her arse. “I… I think we could discuss that…” he murmured, while his cheeks against hers felt like they were getting warmer. “Like… well… you didn’t do that on purpose after all…”

She tilted her head back and looked up at him sternly. “That’s the wrong answer, Mr Weasley,” she said. “You just reminded me that one shouldn’t stay in an abusive relationship and you would stay with someone who hit you just because she’d give you head.” She shook her head and grinned. “You’re such a boy.”

He rolled his eyes as she stood up. “I wouldn’t stay with someone who hit me just because she’d give me head,” he pointed out.

Lily shook her head again and turned away. “You just said that, Hugo.”

“No. I’d stay with you,” she heard him mumble.

She glanced at him askew, but he didn’t return her stare. He stood up, though, and walked towards the kitchen. “Shall we have some sort of lunch before we start cooking the banquet that you ordered for tonight?”

She picked up her letters and parchment. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “We probably shall.”

***

“Lily! Lily, enough!” Hugo grabbed her hand and stopped her with the spoon in mid-air. “You’re going to finish the béchamel before we even start on the lasagne!”

“But it’s so delicious, Hugo,” she whined, stretching her neck to reach the spoon. She stuck out her tongue and licked it clean. “You didn’t tell me that this béchamel was so delicious…”

He let her hand go and rolled his eyes. “Did you behave like this with Derek, too? Did you finish and lick everything he made?”

She pushed the spoon into the béchamel once more. “Of course not,” she giggled, licking it clean once again. “He had all the ingredients laid out for me already and gave me really easy tasks and praised me continuously.”

He rolled his eyes again as he placed a strip of homemade pasta on the bottom of a baking tray, then another one, until the casserole was completely covered. He finally took the bowl from in front of her. “Lily, we’re all going to eat this lasagne, I mean… you can’t eat it with your spoon out of the bowl like that.”

“Oh come on, Hugo,” she said, scooping up a bit more. “It’s going to get cooked anyway…”

He swatted her hand and took the bowl away from her. “Stop it,” he repeated. “I told you to get started on the potatoes twenty minutes ago.” He gestured towards the sink. “You haven’t even washed them!”

“But I like to look at you work,” she pointed out. “You’re like a chef or—oh come on, one last spoonful…” She stretched her arm until she had almost reached the bowl, but Hugo moved it farther away once more.

“Here,” he said, grabbing the spoon from her and scooping up some béchamel.

She opened her mouth expectantly, but he smeared it on her nose instead.

“There,” he said calmly, throwing the spoon into the sink. “Will you stop now?”

“You’re going to pay for this, you know?” she said, licking away the béchamel from her nose anyway. “You want a food fight. Is that what you want?” She grabbed the bowl of meat sauce and dipped her fingers inside.

“Don’t you dare,” said Hugo, glaring at her. “Lily. Lily, I’m serious. Don’t you dare throw that at me.”

She giggled and brought her hand back, aiming for his face.

“Lily!”

She bit her bottom lip, suffocated a giggle, and finally threw it.

Hugo didn’t move. She had expected him to duck, but probably he hadn’t expected her to actually throw it. The sauce hit him right on his cheek, and he closed his eyes and grimaced.

She laughed so much she almost fell off the chair.

“You’re a child,” he chastised her, brushing away the meat sauce. “Honestly, a child, I can’t even believe—ah!”

“Hugo!” She brought her hands to her face, carefully detaching the pasta from her hair. He had been quick: he had grabbed a strip of pasta and thrown it at her. “This is war!” she cried, making a ball of the pasta and throwing it back at him.

This time, he ducked, laughed, and grabbed a fistful of meat sauce. She tried to grab some béchamel, but he was faster and the meat sauce splattered across her t-shirt and up to her neck.

He laughed again, and when she threw him the béchamel, he had already disappeared behind the table.

“You’re going down,” she laughed as she grabbed the bottle of olive oil from the table. “Oh, so down…”

He looked up at her from the spot where he was crouching and his eyes widened. “No. No. No!” He jumped up and stepped back. “Lily, no, that’s enough, we’re behind with the cooking—”

“I’m going to cover you in oil,” she cut him off, uncorking the bottle. “Don’t you worry, Hugo, it’ll make your skin nice and soft…”

“Lily.” He stretched his hands in front of him, walking around the table as she followed him. “Lily, don’t. Oil is a pain to clean.”

“You’re a wizard,” she snorted.

“Lily, I’m going to wreak revenge on you, you know that right?” He stepped back again, chuckling and shaking his head. “Lily… don’t. Don’t. Don’t.”

She laughed as he bumped into a chair and she jumped at the occasion to close the distance between the two of them. She raised the bottle of oil and gave it a little shake up and down, until some oil spurted on Hugo’s neck and his shirt.

“You’re going to pay for that.” He pounced on her, and grabbed the bottle from her hands. He wrapped one arm around her the small of her back, securing her in his embrace. “So going to pay…” he murmured as he collected the oil on his neck and smeared it on her face.

“No! Hugo! No!” She was laughing as she pushed back against his chest. “No!”

“Oh don’t worry, Lily, it’ll make your skin nice and soft…”

She laughed again and hid her face into his dirty t-shirt. “Enough, enough,” she said against his chest. “I surrender, enough. You win, you win…”

“Hmm,” he whispered. “Say that I’m the king of all food fights.”

She giggled and shook her head.

He brought his hands to the small of her back and ran his oiled fingers all over her skin.

“Hugo!” She wriggled in his arms.

“Say that I’m the king of all food fights.” He ran his hands on her stomach, dirtying everywhere.

“You’re the king, you’re the king!” she gasped. “Stop it, you’re the king of all food fights!”

He chuckled. “Better.” His hands didn’t stop rubbing all over her waist and back, though, but she was already so filthy, that she didn’t mind anymore. And it felt a bit like a massage now. It felt good indeed.

She hummed in delight as she leant against his chest.

“Did you have a food fight with Derek, too?” he whispered in her ear.

She snorted in reply. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she replied. “It was all very proper with him.” She furrowed her brow. “Which is weird, because he’s an artist, he should be messier…”

“He’s not as silly as we are…”

She shook her head and looked up at him. “And it was a bit… not boring, but you know… he just kept praising me for doing basically nothing, and he wasn’t even patronising, he was sincere, so I couldn’t get angry with him, really… and he kept saying that he hoped I liked this and that.” She sighed. “We don’t really know each other at all…”

Hugo swallowed and tightened his arms around her for a moment before replying, “Well, that’s what dates are for, right? To get to know each other…”

She nodded. “I guess you’re right…”

“Of course, if you’d rather not get to know him, I would totally understand,” he hurried to add, “and I’m sure he’d understand, too. You just have to tell him that he’s boring and that you like someone who’s a bit more fun.”

“Like you?” she giggled.

He shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, maybe… right?”

She wiggled free of his arms, trying to locate her wand in their messy kitchen. “I could never tell him that,” she sighed. “He thinks I talk way too much about you. Sometimes I feel like he’s jealous of you.” She found her wand and cleaned it from the meat sauce over her already filthy top. “Shall we clean this mess—what?” She glanced at him, he was standing still as a statue, lips slightly parted, eyes fixed on her.

“You… you talk about me?” he asked softly.

She shrugged a shoulder. “According to Derek, way too much,” she replied. “Not that he says that, but he’s not good at hiding his annoyance when I mention you.” She smiled. “He’s got a bit better ever since he met you, though. He thinks you’re a nice fella.”

“He’s nice, too,” he murmured. “I can’t even hate him.”

She furrowed her brow. “Why would you hate him?”

“Because he’s going out with my cousin,” he replied quickly. “I have to hate him.”

“No, you have to hate Scorpius because he’s going out with Rose,” she pointed out. “Al and James should hate him.” She smiled. “Unless you feel I’m like a sister to you.”

“I don’t,” he hurried to say. “I mean, I feel like you’re much more than that. You’re my best-friend, Lily. My best-friend in the world…”

“You’re too, but don’t let Rose hear that your best-friend is more important than your sister.” She raised her wand. “Now I’m going to Scour this place clean, and then we can get on with the cooking. Honestly, only three hours before our parents—”

“Three hours?” he almost barked. “I told you we were late!”

***

They really focused and worked hard after their little food fight.

Hugo made the lasagne from scratch; Lily focused on the potatoes and then the fruit salad. She had to run out while he put the roast beef in the oven though, because they had forgotten to get the ice-cream from Florean Fortescue’s. Then it was time to make the trifle and right before they started, Lily declared that she had changed her mind, that they shouldn’t have done a classical trifle, but a chocolate-banana cream trifle, because a normal one was way too healthy after the fruit salad. Naturally, Hugo agreed to her request, but he pointed out that there was nothing healthy in strawberries smothered in custard and jelly. Lily didn’t pay him any mind, she could already taste the chocolate on her tongue – but maybe it was because she was stealing spoonfuls of chocolate custard every time Hugo turned to grab something.

Right after they had placed the trifle in the fridge and taken quick turns cleaning, setting the table, and showering, there was a knock on the door and voices coming from the landing.

“I’ll open the door,” said Lily, as she scooped up Rufus, who was licking some meat sauce that had splattered on the floor.

She put on a smile and opened the door wide. “Mum! Dad!” she said cheerfully. “Look at you! You’re all tanned.” She stood on tiptoes to kiss their cheeks as they walked into the flat.

“You’re tanned, too,” exclaimed her mother, “and… oh my! I didn’t understand that it was a fancy evening. You’re… so well dressed.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “What? This old rag? I just wore the first thing I found,” she said. Of course, she hadn’t, but she couldn’t possibly miss the chance to ask for more clothes. “Actually, I need a new dress, so I really, _really_ hope that you got me—”

“She doesn’t need a new dress,” Hugo cut in, placing a hand on her mouth and pulling her to him. “Hi Uncle Harry, Auntie Ginny, you two look positively glowing. Did you have fun?”

Lily glared up at him, and pushed on his chest to get free of his hand. “Glowing?” she said. “Hugo, you say glowing when someone’s pregnant.” She looked suspiciously at her mother. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No, we are not,” said her dad. “And Hugo, you look pretty tanned yourself. You need to tell us everything about your trainings.”

“And you about Italy,” he replied with a smile. “If it’s nice I’ll have to take your daughter there.” He looked at Lily and winked. “To snorkel, right Lils?”

“Oh yes!” she exclaimed. “We went snorkelling when we were in Penzance, and it’s amazing. Honestly. I loved it. I’m actually really crossed with Hugo because he’s never taken me before.” She poked his chest and looked sternly at him.

“It’s always my fault, isn’t it?” he grinned.

“Yes,” she giggled. When Rufus nibbled at her hand, she looked down at him, suddenly remembering that he was still in her arms. “Oh God! And this is Rufus.”

Her mother and father both blinked as she raised the kitten in front of their eyes. “You got a Kneazle?” asked her mother, eyes wide. “You two got a Kneazle.”

Hugo raised his hands near his face. “She got a Kneazle, Auntie Ginny,” he said, walking towards the kitchen to grab the tray with the tall glasses filled with the watermelon juice that they had made as an aperitif.

“Why on earth did you get a Kneazle?” asked her father as he took Rufus from her hands. “Oh, he’s soft…”

“He is, isn’t he, Daddy?” she gushed. “I got him on Wednesday, isn’t he cute?”

“He is,” said her mother, rubbing between Rufus’ ears. “But why did you get him?”

“She was feeling down,” said Hugo, rolling his eyes jokingly. “So of course she had to buy a Kneazle.”

She stuck out her tongue as she took a glass of watermelon juice. “You love him, Hugo, don’t lie.”

He grinned and winked at her. “I do,” he confessed.

“Okay, stop a second there,” said her mother, raising a hand. “Why were you feeling down, Lily? What happened? Something with Derek? Something at the newspaper?”

Lily stopped with the glass in mid-air, her lips parted in surprise as she looked from her mother to Hugo, who was looking back at her with an alarmed expression over his face. She tried to glare at him as subtly as she could before turning towards her mother.

“Something at the newspaper,” she murmured, while Hugo said, “Something with Derek.”

Her parents looked from her to him, and Lily cursed under her breath. “Something with Derek at the newspaper,” she muttered. “Nothing important, something about his coffee, like… you know… nothing important… just coffee…”

Her parents both furrowed their brows, looking supremely unconvinced, but luckily, before they could investigate any further, there was another knock on the door. “I’ll go!” both Lily and Hugo said.

Hugo bolted for the door, though, crossing the living room much quicker than she could do, and opened the door. “Hi Mum, hi Dad,” she heard him say.

Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione walked inside. They smiled, hugged their son and then Lily, then Aunt Hermione proceeded to hug Lily’s parents, Uncle Ron patted Lily’s father’s back as he gave him a manly embrace, and then he messed up Lily’s mother’s hair with a chuckle.

In the meantime, Lily and Hugo hurried towards the kitchen counter and gave them their backs.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’ll shut up, I swear.”

Her nostrils flared, but she didn’t reply as she prepared two more drinks for his parents.

“Oh, and this little fella is your new Kneazle, isn’t he?” said Aunt Hermione, scooping him up in her arms. “Oh God, Ron isn’t he exactly like Crookshanks?”

“The colours, maybe,” said Uncle Ron, rubbing the furry belly of the kitten. “This one doesn’t look like a pig with fur, though.”

“Ron!”

There was laughter coming from everybody, though, even Aunt Hermione, and Hugo and Lily smiled too as they offered them more drinks. “We thought you’d come much sooner, Aunt Hermione,” said Lily, “to see Rufus, I mean. Uncle Ron didn’t tell you I got a kitten?”

“He did,” she said calmly. “And I actually came straight away on Wednesday night, but your door was locked, and so was your Floo, and there were wards around your flat.” She looked at them and smiled. “Were you two out?”

Lily felt her skin prickle with gooseflesh at the thought that Aunt Hermione had tried to get into the flat on Wednesday night. For a moment, her head became light and she wasn’t able to find anything to reply to that. Hugo didn’t seem able to reply anything either. Or maybe he didn’t want to talk, since she had chastised him earlier on.

She closed her lips, and furrowed her brow. “Wednesday night…” she murmured thoughtfully. “Wednesday night, Wednesday night…” She turned to look at Hugo, who was sipping his drink. “What did we do on Wednesday night, Hugo?”

There was far more silence than Lily deemed necessary, as if all of them were holding their breaths to wait for Hugo’s reply.

He took a particularly harsh sip from his drink, and almost choked on it. “What we did… What we did on Wednesday night…?”

Lily nodded, eyes wide.

“We… we went to that place,” he said, chuckling awkwardly. “Remember?”

“Yes,” she replied slowly. “That place… the place that is there… that is not here.”

“What place?” asked her mother, cocking her head. “What are you two talking about?”

“Well, Auntie Ginny, it’s that place that—”

“Is something burning?” asked Uncle Ron, sniffing the air like a dog.

“The lasagne!” cried Lily. “Oh, thank God!” She ran towards the oven and opened it. A greyish wisp of smoke puffed out and she flapped it away with her hand, as she bent over to take a closer look at the casserole. Luckily, it was only slightly burnt on the extremities.

“Where did we go on Wednesday night?” asked Hugo in a whisper as they both fussed with the dish. “Quick please.”

“I don’t know,” she almost whined. “Don’t let them go back to the subject.” She turned around and straightened up as Hugo took the lasagne out. “They’re alright,” she announced brightly. “Why don’t you sit down? Dinner is going to be served in two minutes.”

They did, seemingly forgetting about the hanging question. Hugo served them and Lily passed the plates, smiling and keeping the conversation lively with the retelling of their afternoon and little anecdotes of their cooking and food fight.

“Well, dig in,” said Lily, as they were all finally seated.

“Yeah,” said Hugo, “and cast aside the burnt pieces. Sorry about that.”

Her mother brought a piece to her mouth and waved the empty fork in the air. “This is delicious, Hugo,” she said. “Better than most restaurants.”

“It is,” agreed her father. “Good job, Hugo. If Oliver Wood doesn’t pick you, you can always open your own inn.”

“Hey, Potter! He’s going to get picked,” said Uncle Ron. “My son’s a brilliant player, better than your wife.” He swallowed another piece. “But yeah, this is a great lasagne, Hugo.”

“Well, Lily helped a lot,” he said, glancing at her. “We made it together, really. We’re a team.”

Lily looked at him, unimpressed with his attempt at praising her for nothing, just like Derek. “Yeah, but you did most of the work, Hugo,” she replied, lightly. “It’s really good.”

“We did it together,” he said with a smile.

“Okay, okay,” said Uncle Ron. “We get it; you’re good together in the kitchen. Is there more?” He raised his empty plate. “My portion was way too small, Hugo.”

“It was just like everybody else’s, Dad,” pointed out Hugo seriously.

“I know, but I’m twice as tall as anybody else,” he replied just as seriously.

A chorus of protests rose amongst the others, but Uncle Ron sedated them with a hand up high in the air. “Right, I’m thrice as tall as some of you,” he said calmly. “I’m looking at you, Lily Luna Potter.”

Lily stuck out her tongue. “No more lasagne for you, then, Uncle Ron.”

“Okay. Then I’ll steal yours.” He grabbed her plate so quickly, Lily didn’t even have time to try to stop him.

“Uncle Ron!”

“Dad!” sighed Hugo. “Here, I’ll give you another nicely sized piece. But can I remind you that this is not a one-course-meal? There’s more to come, you know.”

“Good to know,” he said, replacing the plate in front of Lily. “And don’t skimp on my second helping.”

“Can I have some more, too?” asked her dad, raising his own plate. “It’s really good. Ginny, you need to ask for the recipe, my dear.”

Her mother rolled her eyes, but it was only half-hearted.

Uncle Ron looked content when Hugo placed the plate back in front of him. “Thank you,” he said, scarfing down the second helping.

“This is really nice,” said her mother. “Our babies have really grown up, haven’t they, Hermione?”

Lily looked as Aunt Hermione nodded and swallowed her lasagne. “They live all alone, work hard, got themselves a pet,” she sighed. “They’re adults, and I feel so old.”

“They don’t pay rent, though,” said her dad. “Does that make you feel better?”

“That makes me feel worse,” pointed out Uncle Ron. “A beautiful flat, in the centre of Diagon Alley. How much do you think we could ask for that, Harry?”

“Ron!” this time it was Lily’s mother the one who chastised him. “You and your friend here had this flat empty for ages. You could have made some Galleons out of it in the past twenty years.”

Uncle Ron cleaned his plate. “Personally, I forgot I even owned half of it,” he said calmly. “But now that I remember…” He grinned and looked at Lily and Hugo. “You either pay rent or make me find a lasagne like this every evening in front of my door.”

“Dad,” sighed Hugo, but everybody else laughed.

Lily pressed her knee into Hugo’s legs under the table and smiled at him when he glanced at her.

He smiled back and snorted. “He’s not funny,” he muttered.

“Yes, he is,” she replied, “and you’re just like him.” She stood up to clear the table from the dirty plates, and Hugo collected the roast beef and the potatoes from the oven. He set the dishes on the table and started to serve her mother, Aunt Hermione, and then Lily.

Uncle Ron sat back against his chair, washing down the double serving of lasagne with a good glass of wine. “This is very nice, you guys,” he said, with a relaxed smile over his face. “Isn’t this way better than when Rose and Scorpius invited us over at theirs, Hermione?”

Lily expected Aunt Hermione to look at him scandalised, but instead she just nodded enthusiastically. “Oh my, tenfold,” she sighed. “Don’t tell this to Rose, though.”

“Aunt Hermione!” giggled Lily. “Poor Rose!”

“Oh Rose was not the problem, and neither was Scorpius or his mother,” she said quickly. “The problem was Scorpius’ dad.”

Her parents sniggered at that.

Aunt Hermione glared at them. “Next time you should come, too,” she said sourly. “You wouldn’t laugh at our misfortune then.”

“Oh come on, guys,” giggled her mother. “Drakey-poo is such a sweet, loving, fun ex-Death Eater.”

“Don’t let Rose hear you say that,” said Aunt Hermione. “That word is banned in Scorpius’ presence.”  

“Death Eater?” asked her father. “Well, that’s what he was. Nobody is saying that he still is, but he certainly was.”

There was a moment of silence, where people focused on their food and the only sound was that of forks clinking against the plates.

“Anyway,” said Uncle Ron suddenly. “That’s why I bless this living arrangement.” He looked at Lily and Hugo. “You can invite us over every time you want.” He lowered his voice in a stage whisper and added, “Your parents are not as bad as Scorpius’, Lily. I can survive with seeing them twice a week if you cook like this every time.”

“Thank you, Ron,” snorted her father. “Who says that _we_ want to see you twice a week, though?”

He looked at him and grinned. “You’re right, Harry, you don’t have to come at all,” he said cheerfully. “More lasagne for me.”

This time, it was Hugo’s leg the one that bumped into hers. She turned to look at him and he was chuckling. “Children, they’re like children,” he whispered.

“Said the grownup man who took part in a food fight this afternoon,” she pointed out.

“Well, I’m still a teenager. What’s their excuse?”

She furrowed her brow in concentration. “They’re so old that they’re starting to lose their minds?”

“You’re mean,” he grinned.

“But will you tell us everything about Italy, already?” asked Aunt Hermione suddenly. “I’m dying to know—”

“—what you brought us,” cut in Uncle Ron.

“Later,” said her mother with a mysterious smile. “Later we’ll give out presents.” She helped herself to more potatoes. “These are really good, by the way.”

“Thank you, Mum,” grinned Lily. Finally, some well deserved praise.

“Anyway, Italy was really nice,” she went on. “I knew it’d be a pleasant holiday, but I didn’t think it’d be this awesome. We had lunch on the Rialto Bridge, visited Pompeii, took a boat on Lake Como, slept on top of the Duomo in Milan, we sunbathed in Capri…”

“Did you go snorkelling?” asked Lily. “Is Capri good for snorkelling?”

“We didn’t,” replied her father, “but I think it’s a nice spot for some snorkelling, isn’t it Ginny? The water is quite clean and there are lots of fish.”

“We have to go, too, Hugo,” said Lily, grabbing his arm. “Can you imagine? A bit of snorkelling in the morning, shopping in some Italian boutique in the afternoon…”

“Haven’t you done enough shopping in France and Penzance and in Diagon Alley to last all your life?” asked Uncle Ron. “Actually, Harry, do you know what kind of swimwear your daughter bought with Bill’s blessing?”

“Uncle Ron! Honestly, they are really not that scandalous,” sighed Lily. “You’d approve of them, Dad.”

“Yeah, Dad, leave her alone,” said Hugo darkly. “She’s eighteen; she can wear whatever she likes.”

Lily pressed her knee into his leg again, to thank him this time, and he pushed back against her. He didn’t look up from his plate, though.

“You two get along so well, don’t you?” said Auntie Hermione suddenly, her voice warm. “You should have seen them in Penzance, Ginny. Always together, always happy, always chatting…”

“Oh yes, and they slept together,” said Uncle Ron calmly.

Her mother choked on a piece of potato while her father coughed out some wine, and Lily just gasped, sending a piece of roast beef down the wrong way.

“Dad!” snapped Hugo, patting Lily’s back.

“Ron! They didn’t,” said Aunt Hermione. “They had to share a bed for one night, that’s all.”

“That’s what I said,” said Uncle Ron calmly.

“No,” hissed her mother, elbowing him. “That didn’t sound like that at all.” They exchanged a glare; Uncle Ron even raised his eyebrows a little, as if they were trying to communicate something without talking.

“Anyway,” said Uncle Ron, turning away from Aunt Hermione. “We had a lovely time that weekend, didn’t we?”

Lily glanced at Hugo, his hand was still between her shoulder blades, but he wasn’t patting her anymore.

“We did,” he said slowly. “It was fun.”

“Yes,” mumbled Lily. “It was real fun. Have I said thank you already?”

“You have, Lily,” said Aunt Hermione gently. “Now, back to Italy, please. After all, you came with us to Penzance last year, right? You know everything about it already.” She looked at Lily’s parents and they nodded.

“We had a lovely time in Siena, did we tell you?” said her father. “We got to ride horses in the countryside, it was very romantic. And Ginny even—”

“Hey, you okay?” whispered Hugo.

Lily turned to look at him; he was smiling at her and still massaging between her shoulder blades gently. She nodded. “Yeah,” she replied quietly. “It’s just that sometimes I feel like people know… about… about…”

“About what?” he asked with a grin.

She glared at him and he just winked. “I’ll clear the table; get the ice-cream out of the fridge, will you?”

They served them the fruit salad topped with abundant ice-cream and finally the trifle, and their parents loved it. Heck, they loved it too much: Lily had hoped to put away some leftovers, but there weren’t any.

“Would you like some tea while we get comfortable on the sofas?” asked Lily, after they devoured the dessert. “Or a coffee? We can make some as you get ready to take out the presents.” She grinned and fluttered her eyelashes at her daddy.

Her father and Uncle Ron exchanged a meaningful glance.

“Harry,” said her mother warningly before turning to Lily. “Tea is perfect, my dear.”

“Actually,” grinned her father, ignoring the warning altogether. “I don’t suppose my sweet little daughter has some Firewhisky in her flat, does she?”

Uncle Ron nodded softly.

“Of course we don’t, Dad,” she said, forgetting to add that otherwise they’d be always pissed in the evening.

“Well,” said Hugo quietly. “Your nephew does, Uncle Harry.” He stood up and retrieved a bottle from the tallest cabinet, the one that Lily would never be able to reach.

She stared at him as he collected six glasses. “You have a secret stash of alcohol?” she asked in disbelief. “And you don’t tell me?”

“I don’t have a secret stash of alcohol,” he pointed out. “Just this one and I didn’t tell you because otherwise it wouldn’t have reached tonight untouched.” He chuckled as he placed the bottle on the coffee table.

Lily’s eyes widened. “I don’t drink,” she growled, “that much…”

“I’m joking,” said Hugo, grinning at her. “So, who wants a glass of Firewhisky apart from Lily?”

Luckily, there was laughter and Lily shook her head and forced out a smile.

“I’d also like a cup of tea,” said her mother. “Hermione?”

“Yes, please.”

“And coffees here, right Ron?”

“Spot on, Harry.”

“We’ll make them straight away,” said Lily, looking pointedly at Hugo. “Right?”

Hugo looked back at her and nodded. “Excuse us,” he said as he followed her towards the kitchen.

“Don’t say these things!” she chastised as soon as they were facing away from them. “You make me sound like I’m a drunkard or something!”

He smiled innocently at her. “I’m sorry, Lily, it was a joke, I solemnly swear.” He nodded towards their parents who were pouring themselves some Firewhisky. “They laughed.”

She shook her head and put the kettle on, then she looked for tea bags and the ground coffee, while Hugo dug out the coffee maker.

“You think it’s going well?” she asked, looking over her shoulder. “They liked everything.”

“It’s going great,” he replied calmly. “Too well, probably. I’m afraid they’ll come back way too soon.”

She turned towards him. “And we don’t want that,” she grinned. “Otherwise we’ll have to put wards to keep them out.”

“We know that works,” he whispered. “I didn’t even hear my mother the other night.”

“We were otherwise engaged,” she muttered, looking away from him and blushing at the thought. “I wouldn’t have heard if the Third Wizarding War had started.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He brushed his hand against hers and she smiled softly.

“It is.”

“Lily, Hugo, come and get your presents,” said her mother suddenly.

Lily bolted for the sofa, making Hugo laugh as she went to sit next to her mother. He brought the coffees and the teas. Rufus settled in Aunt Hermione’s lap, purring and rubbing his nuzzle in her clothes.

“You brought something for me, too? That’s sweet, thank you,” said Hugo.

“Of course,” said her father. “You’re our favourite nephew, Hugo. Just don’t tell the others.” He winked at him over his glass. “And once you’re a famous player you’ll get us free tickets to see the Puddlemere play, right?”

“We already get free tickets, Harry; you do remember your wife’s the Quidditch correspondent for the Prophet, don’t you?” said her mother as she rummaged through her bag. “Okay, Hermione, this is for you.” She handed Aunt Hermione a rectangular package that left no doubt about what it contained.

“Oh, did you find it? Really? Oh God! You’re fantastic,” she gushed as she unwrapped it. An old, musty book appeared underneath the posh paper. “ _Magia Naturale e Creature Fantastiche_. Exactly what I wanted!”

“We found it in Florence, but we walked into each and every single book shop in Italy, magical and Muggle,” said her father. “It’s a rare book, apparently.”

“I hope you didn’t spend too much,” said Auntie Hermione worriedly.

“Don’t worry,” said her mother. “We bargained for half an hour. It was cool. Ron, this is for you.”

Lily let out a whine as she was obliged to wait for her own present, and Hugo shook his head and grinned at her.

“What is it?” he asked, shaking the package a little. Inside something hard hit the box in which it had been placed.

“Open it!” exhorted Lily impatiently.

He did and his mouth rounded into a perfect “o” of surprise. “Ferrari,” he read. “A Ferrari keychain, that’s really cool.”

“Couldn’t buy you the car you wanted,” said her mother. “But this can be the first step towards it, right? It’s the original one; we got it in Maranello, when we went to see the factory.”

“Oh Merlin, I want to see that too!” He turned towards Aunt Hermione. “Our next holiday, okay?”

“You can go with Lily, Dad,” chuckled Hugo. “She goes snorkelling and you go seeing car factories around the country.”

“Only if she doesn’t wear those bikinis,” he said calmly.

“Uncle Ron, stop it!” she sighed. “Mum, my present, pretty please. I’m dying to know what you brought me.”

“First, Hugo,” she replied. “We didn’t have to look too hard for this, but we hope you’ll like it.”

His present was soft, and Lily knew straightaway that it was clothes. She looked interested as he opened it and took out an Italian Quidditch Team t-shirt with the name Luciano Volpi on the back.

“We know he’s the Seeker, and you’re a Beater, but didn’t you think he was pretty neat when you were little?” asked her father with a grin.

“It’s awesome, thank you Auntie Ginny and Uncle Harry,” said Hugo, nodding. “Maybe I should start a collection of Quidditch t-shirts from all over the world.”

“You have to Floo Call Rose and Scorpius then, ask them for one from Greece,” said Lily. “Muuum.”

“And for our lovely and incredibly patient daughter,” said her mother. “Here you go, sweetheart.”

Lily grinned wide as she was handed two presents. One was very soft while the other a bit firmer to the touch. “You got me a bag!” she screeched. “An Italian bag!”

“Ginny,” scolded her father. “I thought it was supposed to be a surprise.”

“I didn’t tell her,” sighed her mother. “But you know she can feel these things through the packages.”

She unwrapped it quickly, finding a big, leather bag inside. “This is gorgeous, Mum, I love it, I love it, I love it.” She sniffed it, opened it, and checked all the details, and she was greatly satisfied with it. “And it’s big enough for all of my stuff,” she said, “and more…” She put an arm inside and couldn’t reach the bottom. “Oh, and you’ve already put an Extendable Charm on it! Thank you!”

She placed the bag on her lap and focused on the other present. When she opened it, her eyes shone. It was a breezy summer dress, dark blue and long, sleeveless and soft to the touch. It was gorgeous.

“Do you like it?” asked her mother.

Lily looked at her with a grin over her face. “I love it,” she gushed. “Thank you, Mum, thank you, Dad. It’s gorgeous.”

Her father smiled contentedly. “I’m glad you like it, pumpkin.”

“Hey Lily,” said Hugo. “You can wear that at Oliver Wood’s party.”

“Oliver Wood’s party?” said her mother, looking from Hugo to Lily. “Are you invited, Lily?”

“I’m Hugo’s plus one,” she said with a smile. “He promised he’d take me if he got picked. To make some connections, you know.” Then suddenly she remembered something. “Also, Dad, would you be so kind as to lend me your Invisibility Cloak on the day of Hugo’s trials?”

“Excuse me, for what?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “I thought family and friends could go and see the players auditioning for the team.”

“Yeah, but they’re not permitted into the changing rooms,” she replied, “and if he gets picked I want to be the first one to congratulate him. After all, he invited me to the party…”

Lily couldn’t quite understand why there was a thick silence that descended upon their guests, but when she looked at them, she saw that they were exchanging subtle glances.

“Yeah, well… Hugo was really nice to invite you,” said her father slowly. “I don’t see why not… Just to congratulate him, right?”

“Of course, what else? I certainly wouldn’t go in there to laugh at the players that haven’t been picked,” she giggled.

“Especially because there won’t be any other player there,” said Hugo. “They go alphabetically and I’m the last one.”

“Go figure why, Mr Wwweasley,” giggled Lily.

He stuck out his tongue at her and then they were all laughing. And Lily couldn’t help thinking that that day had been a very good one indeed.


	25. Chapter 25

***

Rufus was the centre of attention that Sunday at the Burrow. Everybody, from Grandma Molly to Remus, was entranced by the kitten. They fed him from their plates, they kept rubbing him between his ears, and scooping him up in their arms, they talked to him with ridiculous high-pitched voices.

Rufus seemed to alternatively bask in the attentions and look quite fed up with them. Especially when James started to walk around with him crouched over his shoulder, like a pirate’s parrot.

“James!” scolded Lily as she grabbed the Kneazle. “You scare him like that.”

“He’s not scared, he’s a brave fella,” said her brother, rubbing Rufus’ belly. “Is it yours or Hugo’s, though? Don’t Kneazles only have one owner?”

“No, that’s… What? Really?” She looked at Rufus, eyebrows furrowed. “Aunt Hermione,” she called. “Is it true that Kneazles only have one owner?”

Aunt Hermione looked up from her cup of tea. “Not that I know of,” she replied calmly. “All of my Kneazles, except for Crookshanks I, have always been of the whole family. Why, dear?”

“Never mind,” she muttered, glaring at her brother. “I bought him, but he’s ours: mine and Hugo’s.”

“And if the two of you divorce who will he end up with?” asked James with a grin.

Lily grimaced at the joke. “We have no intention of divorcing, thank you very much,” she muttered. “And with that, I believe you mean moving out of the flat. And we have no intention to do that, but if we did, he would come home with me.” She glanced at Hugo, who was holding Remus and making funny faces at him. “Especially because Hugo is out playing Quidditch all day.”

“Lily,” called Victoire excitedly. “Remus wants to see Rufus again.”

Lily grinned wide as she walked towards Victoire, who was sitting right next to Hugo. She placed Rufus in Hugo’s lap, and knelt down between his legs, getting ready to grab the feline in case he tried to escape from the attentions of the child.

Remus’ eyes widened and his plump little hands flapped right and left as Lily giggled, “Who’s this, Remus? Another baby, just like you!”

Hugo pressed Remus back against his chest, keeping him safely there with his hands around his tiny chest, and Lily had to grab Rufus and push him in front of the child’s nose so that Victoire’s son could pat the Kneazle’s head lightly.

Rufus was remarkably patient, but Lily was ready to grab him and take him away at the first signal of impatience.

“Who’s a good boy?” said Lily with a grin.

“I don’t know,” replied Hugo. “Rufus or Remus?”

“Both,” said Victoire with a little chuckle. “They both are.” She grabbed Rufus from Lily’s hands and brought him to her chest. “Hmm, do you think we should buy a Kneazle too? They say that children that grow up with pets are less prone to getting sick.” She glanced at Hugo and narrowed her eyes. “You are quite healthy, aren’t you, Hugo?”

He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. “I’m not unhealthy,” he replied unsurely. “But I don’t know if it’s due to the fact that Rose and I grew up with Kneazles all around us.”

“It’s due to all the Quidditch he does and how healthily he eats,” pointed out Lily seriously. “He makes me eat all sorts of vegetables twice a day.” She shuddered at the thought for good measure.

“I meant that he was a healthy child growing up,” said Victoire. “You weren’t sick very often, right? I remember Dom and Lucy used to get all sorts of allergies and illnesses when they were toddlers.”

Hugo shook his head. “No, I wasn’t sick very often,” he agreed before looking at Lily. “And give me a few more weeks and I’ll have you working out with me at six in the morning during the weekend.”

“Ah!” she snorted. “Keep dreaming.”

“Yeah,” said Victoire, dipping her nose into Rufus’ fur. “I don’t think that’ll ever happen, Hugo.” She inhaled deeply and seemed to wait for something that didn’t happen. “He smells nice,” she finally stated. “Teddy. Teddy!”

Teddy hurried to his wife’s side, eyes wide. “What? What happened? Is Remus alright?”

Victoire giggled her enchanting laughter. “He’s perfectly fine, Teddy,” she replied. “He likes Hugo a great deal. Look at him.”

Lily looked up at a blushing Hugo and a very cute-looking redheaded Remus who was still flapping his arms about.

“Do you think we should get a Kneazle?” asked Victoire suddenly. “Hugo is healthy because he’s been exposed to pets all his life, maybe a Kneazle would have a positive influence on our son. Children who grow up with pets are more loving too, aren’t they?”

Teddy’s eyebrows disappeared behind his blue untidy hair. “Oh, well… I don’t know,” he replied. “Do we have time to look after a Kneazle?”

“They’re very low maintenance,” Lily cut in. “That’s what Uncle Ron said.”

Teddy looked at her and shook his head. “That’s because he’s never been the one who took care of any of Aunt Hermione’s Kneazles,” he pointed out. “You know, Vicky, I’m not sure we need a Kneazle anyway. You’ve got me, what more do you want?” He grinned at his wife and then closed his eyes. Then he was shrinking and blue fur was spurting all over his face and body, and soon he was one handsome blue Kneazle.

“Aww!” said Lily, gathering Teddy up in her arms. “You’re so adorable, Teddy.”

He looked up at her and licked her cheek, making Lily giggle.

Victoire giggled too. “Yes, indeed, my husband is cute,” she said. “But who’s going to change Remus’ nappies if you’ve got paws and a tail?”

Teddy jumped down from Lily’s arms and went to rub his nuzzle against Victoire’s legs.

“Yeah, I hardly think so,” she said, patting the sofa between herself and Hugo. “Come on, Teddy, hop on. Let’s see if your son likes his furry daddy.”

Teddy strutted his backside to take a nice jump and Lily laughed at the scene. She even had to grab him under his hind legs to help him up and when she looked up at Hugo, he was laughing, too.

Victoire placed Rufus next to him and bit her bottom lip to swallow a giggle when the kitten went to sniff Teddy’s backside. Teddy’s tail twitched nervously. He glared at the kitten and finally placed his front paws on Hugo’s lap to get his nuzzle closer to his son.

Remus seemed slightly overwhelmed by the gigantic, blue feline, but Teddy started to lick his face and the child bounced slightly on his legs, letting out some amused sounds.

Victoire gestured for Lily to look at Rufus, and Lily stared at the kitten as he tried to jump and grab Teddy’s tail with his paws and teeth.

Lily giggled too, and she tapped Hugo’s knee to make him look at the scene as well. They were all chuckling by the time Rufus had managed to grab Teddy’s blue tail and dangled from it.

All but Teddy, who straightened up his furry head and tickled Remus’ nose with his whiskers. The baby scrunched up his eyes before letting out a couple of sneezes.

Lily looked at him. “Oh Remus, you little—oh bloody hell!” 

“Lily!” scolded Victoire. “No cursing in front of my son.”

Lily ignored her; she pointed a finger to the child instead. “But he has ears,” she said.

“Like every human—oh, I see.” Victoire seemed much calmer than Lily had expected she would be when she turned to look at her son and noticed the green cat ears that he was sporting and that were turning blue by the time Hugo noticed them, too. Victoire stood up, grabbed the child from Hugo’s lap, and sat him on her hip. “We want to look just like Daddy, don’t we?” she said sweetly.

“Has that happened before?” asked Hugo. “Is he already doing accidental magic?”

“All the time,” sighed Victoire, nodding. “He’s definitely going to Hogwarts this one.”

“Well, he was changing his hair colour the moment his mother pushed him out,” pointed out Louis, as he grinned at his nephew.

“Nice Lou,” said Victoire with a roll of her eyes. “ _The moment his mother pushed him out_ , very classy.”

“How long does it take him to make them go away?” asked Lily.

“Oh, hours, he needs to calm down first. And the poor thing doesn’t even notice that he’s got Kneazle ears instead of his own, and they have to go away naturally,” sighed Victoire. “Of course if his father would gently go back to being human, that would probably help speeding up the process.”

Lily turned to look at Teddy. He was lying on his back in Hugo’s lap and Hugo was rubbing his belly while the blue Kneazle was purring contently and flicking his tail. Rufus was still trying to catch it in his paws.

“What do you say, Lily? Shall we take this one home with us, too?” asked Hugo with a chuckle.

Lily started to rub Teddy’s belly as well. “He’s soft,” she admitted as she grinned at her cousin. “But do you think he’s low maintenance as well?”

“Probably not,” he said thoughtfully. “Probably he’s quite a pain the arse, especially when he wants to eat something. Probably he only wants raw meat cut into little pieces and with a couple of sage leaves to give it a bit of flavour. And probably he wants only sparkling water with a slice of lemon…”

Teddy opened his eyes and glared up at Hugo, then closed them again and next thing they knew, he was turning back into himself.

“Oh God, you’re heavy,” complained Hugo as Teddy jumped up from his lap.

Teddy glared at Rufus and raised a finger in front of his nuzzle. “You stop trying to bite my tail.” He turned to Hugo and grinned. “And you’re muscled enough to hold me,” he said calmly. “Vicky, have you pawed Hugo’s chest? I bet you’ve got muscles bulging out of your skin, don’t you Hugo?”

“I haven’t pawed anybody’s chest,” replied Victoire distractedly, focusing on calming down her son whose ears were still very fluffy.

“How strong are you?” asked Teddy. “How much can you lift?”

“What?” asked Hugo, furrowing his brow. “I… I don’t… I don’t lift, I just do a lot of Quidditch, but I don’t lift.”

Teddy looked around himself, trying to look for something. Finally, he looked down at Lily and grinned. “Get up,” he said. “Both of you.”

Lily furrowed her brow too, but she complied. “What?” she asked.

“How much do you weight?” asked Teddy calmly.

Lily looked at him with eyes wide, outraged. “That’s private, Teddy,” she pointed out sourly.

He narrowed his eyes, looking intently at her. “110?”

“How dare you? I’m 102 pounds! Not a pound heavier. I swear,” she replied dryly. Well, last time she had weighted herself, and that was before she left for France. Probably she was a bit heavier now, what with all the junk food she had in the past few days…

“Too light,” he said calmly, “but we’ll make do.” He looked at Hugo. “Try to lift her, Hugo.”

“What?” asked Hugo. “Like this?” His arms wound suddenly around the small of her back and she was lifted off the floor and against Hugo’s chest with a little chuckle from his part.

She gasped at the swiftness of his movements and grabbed his arms. “Hugo!” she snapped.

“Honestly,” sighed Victoire, nonetheless staring at the scene with interest.

“Not like that,” said Teddy. “Lie down.”

Hugo placed her back down and looked at Teddy without really understanding; nevertheless, he lay down on the floor.

“Put your hands on your chest, palms up,” instructed Teddy seriously. “Lily, you lie down on top of them.”

“You’re joking,” said Lily, folding her arms across her chest. “He’s not _that_ strong.”

“Hey!” snapped Hugo, looking up at her. “Come here.”

There was laughter, and when Lily turned, she saw that all her cousins were now gathered around them, looking with interest at the scene.

“No,” she said firmly. “What if you can’t lift me and I fall on you?”

“Can you imagine?” chuckled Fred. “Why can’t you train today Weasley? Oh, my cousin fell on my chest…”

“Lily, you’re embarrassing me,” said Hugo. “Come here.”

She shook her head.

“Come on, Lily!” said Albus. “I want to try too afterwards.”

Dominique coughed out loud. “Oh God, there’s so much testosterone in here, I feel like I’m choking on it.”

“I’m not going to—let me go!” The fact that she was giggling was probably not helping her cause though, so Fred didn’t let her go at all. Au contraire, he pushed her down until Hugo’s fingers closed around her upper thigh and his other hand grabbed her waist.

“Stay still,” said Fred, making her fold her arms across her chest. “Okay, you can lift her.”

Lily closed her eyes, ready to fall down on Hugo’s chest. At least, she wouldn’t fall on the floor. Of course, she was aware of the fact that Hugo had very little body fat, so probably he wouldn’t be any softer than the floor anyway, but at least she wouldn’t have ended up with a broken arm. She couldn’t be as sure about Hugo’s ribs, though.

“Higher, Hugo! Higher!” cheered Louis.

“Oh Merlin, what are you even doing?” exclaimed Aunt Hermione. “You two are going to get hurt.”

“If they both die, I’ll get Rufus,” said Albus cheerfully. “After all, I’m the closest relative they have.”

Hugo’s arms were shaking as he lifted Lily up; she could feel his fingers spasming almost painfully around her flesh as he raised her. “I’m going to die,” she muttered.

Hugo’s arms shook a bit more, as if her had heard her and was now trying not to laugh. He grunted under her and then let out a powerful growl as he finally lifted her all the way up, locking his arms straight.

The crowd erupted in cheers and then in cries of, “Again! Again!” but luckily Hugo’s testosterone levels had returned to normal and he just shakily brought her down, until she was lying across his chest and he was gasping to try to catch his breath again.

Lily poked his ribs with an elbow as she turned to look at him. “Not too heavy, am I?” she asked with a grin.

He looked at her and smiled, but before he could reply, she was whisked away by Fred again and next thing she knew she was falling on a whimpering Albus, and then her elbows were Healed by a laughing Dominque.

***

Lily found seven letters in Lavender’s office on Monday morning; she also found a note from Mr Quills asking to see her in his office as soon as she got it. She stared at it for a long moment. “Oh bloody hell,” she muttered. She definitely wasn’t ready to be on the receiving end of more unjustified narrow-minded critiques about her replies. Had Mike already published the letter about anal sex? Was it too naughty for the newspaper? She had put the asterisk, what more did they want from her?

She closed the door at her back and walked slowly towards Mr Quills’ office, dragging her feet and sighing all the way.

“You’re going to see my dad,” said Derek as she stopped in front of Mr Quills’ office.

She turned to look at him and a soft smile spread over her lips. “I am,” she replied. “But if he has more complaints about my explicit letters… I don’t know what I’ll reply him…”

“He doesn’t,” he said before biting his bottom lip and looking away from her.

Lily furrowed her brow. “What are you hiding?” she asked with an ill-concealed grin. “What’s happening?”

He took a deep breath and then grabbed her wrist, dragging her away from the door and into his office. He closed the door at his back and looked at her with a resigned expression. “My father,” he started slowly, “is going to invite you over for dinner at my parents’ house.”

Lily’s eyes widened suddenly. “I beg your pardon?” she asked, feeling a slight panicky twist at the bottom of her stomach. “Invite me over for dinner?”

“It’s all my fault,” he sighed, nodding disconsolately. “I couldn’t stop talking about you on Sunday and my mother insisted my father invited you over for dinner.” He took another deep breath. “He wanted to invite your parents, too, but I managed to put my foot down about that.

“Thank you,” she said softly, but swallowing loudly. “Dinner with your parents?” She fidgeted nervously. “It’s going to be awkward.”

“I’ll be there,” he hurried to say.

She looked at him. “Well, I dearly hope so.” She bit her bottom lip hard. “Oh God, what are we going to talk about? Letters that your father doesn’t approve of?”

“My mother loves your letters if that makes you feel better,” he said. “She’s a huge fan.”

“It does,” she admitted. “But… oh my! Isn’t it a bit early? I mean… we haven’t even kissed yet, and we’re already having dinner with your parents… I have to tell my parents to invite you over at Grimmauld Place. Oh damn! You haven’t even seen my flat, you need to come over, too. I mean, you should come over before I see your parents’ house, isn’t that the right order of things?”

He smiled down at her as he placed his warm hands on her upper arms. “Calm down, Lily,” he said. “Everything is going to be alright. And we’ve got all the time in the world to see your flat, don’t you think?” He took a step towards her and lowered his voice as he added, “And we can take care of that kiss right now if you want to…”

She took a sharp breath and lowered her eyes. “I’m… I’m…”

“It’s alright,” he whispered, but his voice was tight and she wondered how long it was before he told her to choose between himself and—

She shook her head. He had no reason to ask her to choose between himself and anybody else, because there wasn’t anybody else. Especially not Hugo. Especially not him. Really… Really, really…

He let her go and she tried to smile the least guilty of all smiles. “When were they thinking to have me over?”

“Whenever you’re free,” he replied gently. “Remember that we need to start on your portrait at some point. You can use that as an excuse.” He winked at her and she smiled.

“I’m going out with Hugo’s friends on Friday,” she lied, “and if you want to paint me on Saturday…”

“It can also be a weekday with my parents, you know,” he murmured. “Actually a weekday would be less painful, because they go to bed early.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds good,” she replied. “Shall I go into his office alone? Aren’t you coming with me?”

He smiled at her whiny tone. “If you want me to,” he said gently.

She nodded and slipped her hand into his. He seemed to puff out his chest as he opened the door again and guided her to his father’s office. He knocked for her and when his father told them to come in, he pushed the door open and led her inside.

“Yes, Derek, did you need anything?” he asked him distractedly. “Oh, Potter, you found my note, didn’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes, Mr Quills,” she replied meekly.

Mr Quills nodded back and looked at his son, then back at Lily, then back at Derek. “You’re here for support?” he asked him with a snort. “As if I was going to ask her something terrible.”

“Maybe you are, Dad,” said Derek unexpectedly. “Maybe she doesn’t want you to ask her _that_.”

She squeezed his hand, to let him know that it was okay, but that she appreciated the effort. She wasn’t sure she had managed to convey all that.

“It’s just dinner at ours,” Mr Quills replied dryly. “So, Potter, when are you free?”

“Can you call her Lily, at least?”

Mr Quills seemed to find the request reasonable. “Lily,” he said calmly. “When are you free, _Lily_?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m afraid I’m busy this upcoming weekend,” she said, in an apologetic tone of voice. “But if you don’t mind one of these weekdays, I mean… only if you don’t mind…”

“Of course, they don’t,” said Derek sweetly.

“Well, Mrs Quills wanted to entertain you for at least a five good hours,” said Mr Quills. “Show you her ceramic cats collection, and feed you until you put some meat on those bones.”

“Dad!” cringed Derek.

“What? I’m telling her that she’s thin, how’s that an insult?” asked Mr Quills defensibly.

Lily squeezed Derek’s hand again. “It’s alright,” she murmured before turning to look at Mr Quills. “Well,” she sighed, “I’m organising my cousin’s baby-shower next weekend, too. And the weekend after that it’s the one right before Hugo’s trials, so I think he’ll need some support. He’s going to be really tense.”

“Who’s Hugo?” asked Mr Quills, furrowing his brow.

“My cousin and flatmate,” she replied. “He’s trying out for Puddlemere United. He’s really good.”

“Oh, I see,” replied Mr Quills. “It’s good to know someone in the world of Quidditch if you want to become a correspondent for the Prophet.”

She smiled. “Well, let’s hope he gets picked, then.”

Mr Quills nodded. “How about Wednesday, Potter—I mean, Lily—would that be good enough for you?”

She swallowed. So close. “Wednesday is perfect,” she replied, her voice a bit throaty.

Mr Quills nodded and waved a hand in the air. “Perfect, at six thirty? Derek will give you the address,” he said. “Are you allergic to seafood?”

“I’m not allergic to anything,” she replied, shaking her head. “Thank you for inviting me, Mr Quills. Can you tell Mrs Quills that I’m looking forward to meeting her?”

“I will,” he replied. “Now off you go to work, both of you, Quills and Potter, marsh!”

Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he led Lily out of the office.

“Are you okay?” he asked, once the door closed at their back.

“Marvellous,” she sighed. “No, seriously, I’m actually looking forward to meeting your mother, she sounds so sweet.”

“She is. I don’t know how on earth she ended up with my father.” He grinned and nodded towards his office. “Come, I’ll give you their address.”

She smiled back and followed him inside, already thinking with trepidation about Wednesday evening.

***

Lily avoided her mother’s office, and instead went straight to Shell Cottage to work on the baby-shower invitations with Auntie Fleur. There, she couldn’t help spilling the beans about the upcoming torture that she would have to be submitted to that Wednesday, and Auntie Fleur seemed to hit the target when she asked, “But do you like zees Derek, Lily?”

She sighed as she doodled all over one of the invitations. “Of course I do,” she replied. “He’s sweet and intelligent and has a good job. What more do you want from a man?”

Auntie Fleur cocked a delicate eyebrow. “Love?” she asked sensibly. “Ze fact zat you feel good when you’re with ‘im?”

She sighed again, but this time she didn’t reply out loud. She copied the text of the invitation on another parchment. Then another. Then she looked at Auntie Fleur. “Who’s this for?” she asked softly.

Auntie Fleur checked the list they had made. “Grandma Molly,” she replied. “So?”

“So what?” she mumbled.

“Do you feel good when you’re with ‘im?”

“I don’t feel bad,” she replied vaguely. “It’s just…”

“Yes?”

“Sometimes it’s a bit awkward,” she replied, looking at her aunt. “We don’t know each other that well, and we really don’t see each other that often either. I mean… shouldn’t two people who are going out together want to see each other all the time?”

Auntie Fleur nodded. “Yes, most certainly.” She wrote the name of Dominique beautifully on an envelope and looked at Lily. “And you two don’t want to see each ozer?”

“I think he does, but…”

“You don’t want to,” she finished for her.

Lily sighed. “I’m… I’m really busy with work now, and… and there’s Hugo, you know. I like to spend time with him, we have fun, he helps me with work, he cooks for me, he takes care of me, he—what?”

Auntie Fleur’s smile deepened. “‘E’s a sweet young man,” she said. “And strong too, I saw ‘im yesterday.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “It was all Teddy’s fault,” she said, “and Fred, Louis, Al, and James. Their brains get smaller when they’re all together. It’s like an illness.”

“Zey’re men, darling,” she said calmly.

Lily nodded. “Hugo is different,” she said, purposely forgetting that he had been one of the first people to insist into lifting her up. “He’s mature, and caring and lovely. Right?”

Auntie Fleur smiled at her. “‘E certainly ees.”

“Do I talk too much about him?” she asked suddenly. “Because Derek thinks I talk too much about him.”

“You live with ‘im, darling,” said Auntie Fleur. “Eet’s normal to talk about someone when we see zem every day.”

“Exactly,” said Lily. “That’s exactly what I thought, Auntie Fleur. I keep thinking about him because we spend most of our free time together, and because he doesn’t tease me endlessly like all of my male cousins and brothers. He’s nice with me, that’s why I can’t stop thinking about him.”

Auntie Fleur looked at her gently. “Of course, dear,” she replied, her lips quirking upwards. “You two ‘ave a beautiful relationship.”

“Thank you, Auntie,” she said. “Who’s this invitation for, again?”

“Auntie Angelina,” she replied.

Lily nodded and wrote the name on the invitation. “He invited me to the party at Oliver Wood’s house, after the trials,” she giggled. “If he gets picked, that’s it. I really hope he gets picked…”

“I’m sure ‘e will,” replied Auntie Fleur calmly. “Ees zat ze last one, Lily? Zen we need to start sending zem out. I’ll go look for Zeus.”

When she was back with her owl, Lily had just closed the last envelope – addressed to Lucy. They spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing and sending out the invitations one by one, while they talked and decided how to decorate Shell Cottage for the baby-shower.

***

When Lily woke up in her flat that evening, Hugo was perched over her on the sofa. He was smiling and tracing his fingers gently over her forehead, as if he was revelling in the softness of her skin.

She closed her eyes and sighed. “What time is it?”

“Almost half past seven,” he replied softly. “I’ve made dinner.”

She hummed in reply. “I’m so tired,” she murmured. “Spent the whole afternoon sending out invitations with Auntie Fleur…”

“For the baby-shower?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “I’ll see her on Thursday to finish planning everything, and then again next Friday to prepare Shell Cottage, and then on Saturday for the baby-shower itself.”

“Busy girl,” he whispered.

She smiled and opened her eyes. He was still there, his fingers still tracing her skin lightly. “Hugo,” she said softly. “Can we go out with your friends on Friday night?”

His blue eyes seemed to twinkle at that. “You want to go out with the guys?”

“Yeah, if you want to,” she replied. “I kind of said to Derek’s father that I was busy on Friday evening because I was going out with you and your friends, and… I just really don’t feel too comfortable lying like that.”

“Why would you have to lie to your boss about what you do on Friday night? Isn’t that private?”

She stretched her arms until they were around Hugo’s neck and then dragged him down to her; he rested his head over her shoulder and slid his hands under her and over her back. “They invited me over for dinner,” she murmured, “but going on the weekend would mean that I’d have to stay there until late, so I lied and said I was busy.”

He stiffened slightly at the news and she hugged him more tightly.

“And when are you going?” he asked softly.

“Wednesday night,” she replied. “It’s going to be quick and painless, I hope.”

He chuckled against her neck. “You don’t sound too enthusiastic about it.”

“I’m scared and I just don’t want to go,” she replied. “But I’ll have to because it wouldn’t be nice to refuse, and more importantly I don’t want to be fired.”

“I don’t think you’d be fire for refusing dinner,” whispered Hugo.

She didn’t reply and for a moment they just lay there, unmoving except for their fingers that were gently rubbing circles on each other’s bodies.

“Aren’t you hungry? I made salmon with potatoes.”

“Hmm, love salmon,” she murmured.

“I know.” He kissed her neck, making her giggle. “Need help with the letters?”

She let him go and shook her head. “Not tonight,” she replied. “We’ll take care of them tomorrow.”

He stood up and stretched a hand towards her to help her up. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s have dinner.”

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I need a piece of advice about how to behave in regards to my daughter’s love life. She is of age, but still young and I think she is well confused about whom she likes and whom she loves._
> 
> _She is currently seeing a young man who is a very proper choice, in my humble opinion, but she seems less than interested in the boy. Instead, she looks like she is enamoured with another young man that she sees all the time. Don’t get me wrong, he is intelligent, strong, a hard worker, and he seems to love her back, but I am not sure their relationship would end up well. On the other hand, even if it did end up well, the moment the two of them decided to break up, they would definitely find it rather difficult to distance from each other. The young man in question is very close to our family, in fact. He is like a son to us._
> 
> _What shall I tell my daughter? Shall I let her live her life? Shall I warn her about this relationship, and how obvious she and this young man are about their feelings? People are starting to notice, and even though they both look very happy together, I don’t want any of them to get hurt and lose the beautiful relationship they have._
> 
> _Let me know your thoughts on this, Lavender._
> 
> _Thank you in advance,_
> 
> _Confused Mummy_

***

Lily couldn’t find the courage to raise her eyes from the letter. Her head was suddenly very light and, around her, the kitchen was spinning almost as fast as her heart was beating. She wondered if Hugo could hear it at all from across the table. He wasn’t moving, nor was he talking, so she was sure that he was hearing it all right.

She kept staring at the letter for some long moments, until all the words melted together under her unfocused gaze. Only then she decided to look up at Hugo.

He was looking back at her with a blank, though slightly horrified, expression and Lily swallowed loudly and looked away almost immediately without quite being able to grasp why she felt that anxious all of a sudden.

More minutes passed without either of them being able to proffer a word at all, and it was only when the silence started to weight on Lily’s temples and threaten to cause her a migraine that she decided to break that awkward pause.

“What a sweet mother,” she whispered, her voice breaking a little towards the end before getting high-pitched all of a sudden on the last syllable.

Hugo snorted out loud. “Yeah, right,” he grunted. “Sweet indeed.”

She finally looked up at him. Eyes wide because of the unexpected tone of this voice. “Beg your pardon?” she asked softly.

Hugo looked darkly back at her, he folded his arms across his chest with deliberate slowness, straightening his back and boring his eyes into hers. “You think she’s sweet?” he asked rather harshly. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she replied in a whisper. “She’s worried about her daughter, she’s… I think she’s sweet… I mean—”

“She’s a prying hag, that’s what she is,” he snapped, his foot tapping the floor nervously.

Lily’s eyes’ widened so much she was sure she was looking quite like Kreacher at that moment. She had never heard Hugo talking like that about any of Lavender’s fans, and she was surprised he would use such harsh term about a poor mother who was only worrying about her daughter. “Hugo!” she tried to exclaim, even though her voice was nothing more than a whisper. “She’s just being protective of her daughter.”

“I don’t think her daughter needs protection,” he replied, his voice still harsh. “I think she obviously doesn’t like whom her daughter is in love with. And she wants you to tell her that she should intervene, that she should warn her daughter against this relationship that she doesn’t approve of.”

“I don’t think she’s saying this…”

“Yes, she is,” he replied forcefully. “And you should tell her that she’s being ridiculous. That she doesn’t understand a sodding thing.”

“Hugo!”

“ _He_ is obviously in love with her.” His face darkened even more, his blue eyes shone like those of a feverish man as they bore into Lily’s. “And I bet she’s too,” he added in a whisper that sounded rather hopeful.

Lily felt the urge to look away from his entrancing stare. “How can you be sure?” she asked, looking at the letter without really seeing the words. “She only says that _he seems to love her back_ , but she can’t be—”

“He loves her,” he cut her off. “I can assure you.”

“How do you even know?” she asked, looking up at him again.

This time it was him the one who looked away from her. “I just know,” he muttered. “Believe me, okay?” He glanced at her askew. “Do you want me to reply to her?” he asked almost angrily. “I’ll do it. Give me the letter.” He stretched a hand to grab the letter from her hands, but she snatched it away before he could close his fingers over it.

“What? No!” she replied hastily. “What’s got into you? Why are you so upset?”

“Nothing’s got into me,” he stood up and stretched his hand towards the letter again. “I just don’t like idiotic letters.” He finally closed his fingers around the parchment in Lily’s hands. “Idiotic and evil,” he muttered, pulling at the letter that she tried to pull away from him. “From people who only want to meddle with love.” He pulled more forcefully, but Lily didn’t let it go, and they ended up with half of the letter each.

“Hugo!” she gasped, looking at the torn missive. “What’s wrong with you?”

He sat back on his chair and nicked Lily’s parchment and quill and started writing furiously.

“Hugo. Hugo!” She placed the half of the letter on the table and stood up, circling the table to go and peer over his shoulder at the reply he was drafting. From what she could see, it was filled with words that would have Mr Quills having a heart attack.

“Stop it!” she said, grabbing his arm. “You’re not going to reply to her.”

“Yes, I am,” he growled. “Because you don’t understand.”

“What?” She let her hands descend on his arm, until her fingers were firmly squeezing his wrist, successfully stopping him from writing another letter. “Of course I understand.”

He shook his head, but didn’t look at her. “No, you don’t,” he mumbled, blinking angrily at the piece of parchment in front of him.

She leant her chin over his forearm and looked up at him, but he wouldn’t look at her. “I understand,” she whispered. “It’s not that difficult.”

He looked at her and pouted like a child. She felt the urge to smile at him, and brushed away some curls from his eyes.

“You do?” he asked in a murmur.

She nodded and her smile deepened. “She’s worried about them,” she said. “She said that he’s like a son to her, and she’s her daughter. She doesn’t want to see the two of them suffer.” She leant her cheek over the bend of his elbow and took a deep breath, inhaling his familiar smell. “Obviously she just—hey!”

She had to grab the table not to fall down when Hugo’s sudden movements pushed her back.

He stood up abruptly and walked towards the kitchen. He Summoned a glass of water and drank it so quickly that Lily was sure he was going to gag on it. “See?” he grunted once he had slapped the empty glass on the counter. “You don’t understand anything.” He placed his hands near it, arching his back and muttering incomprehensible words under his breath.

Lily stared at him, unsure what to say to calm him down. She didn’t even know why he was so worked up in the first place. Yes, that letter had struck a chord with her too, but she didn’t want to think about it. It was stupid to think about it in the first place. She had to look at it as coldly as possible and reply as professionally as she always did.

Suddenly, he turned around and glared at her. “You should tell her that she shouldn’t intervene,” he snapped. “Actually, no. Just tell her that she shouldn’t worry at all, because I’m sure that her daughter and this young man are not really in love. If they were, they would probably already be together, don’t you think? Why would her daughter go out with someone she doesn’t love anyway? She surely doesn’t care much about this man her mother claims she loves. Not as much as he loves her.”

Lily looked at him with eyes wide and mouth equally wide. “You just said that she obviously was—”

“I changed my mind.”

“I can’t write that, though. That’s too harsh,” she finally murmured. “And maybe she loves him. Maybe she’s confused about her own feelings. You know, love isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes… sometimes it’s difficult to understand what’s going on even in your own heart.”

“I must be an exception then,” he replied dryly. “Because I always know what’s going on in my heart.”

Lily pressed her lips into a thin line and narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “Liar,” she muttered. “You said you liked Marie and then you said that you liked this other—”

“I don’t like Marie!” he snapped. “Can you get it into your head once and for all?” He turned away from her and walked towards his room. The door slammed shut and the noise echoed for the whole flat.  

***

> _Dear Confused Mummy,_
> 
> _My piece of advice to your problem might sound a bit harsh, but I do believe that you should let you daughter live her life. She’s going to make mistakes, and that’s okay: she will learn from them. It’s extremely sweet that you want to protect her, but I’m sure she’s quite able to take care of herself._
> 
> _And if she’s not, I’m sure her mother will be the first person she seeks out in case she needs comfort and refuge and advice. Your role in her education is never-ending and forever changing, and she’ll still need you for many years to come. So, don’t worry._
> 
> _Hope this helps._
> 
> _Take care,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

Lily went to bed right after she had written that reply, only to wake up in the middle of the night with Hugo sleeping right next to her. She had started in her slumber, but then had pushed herself and Rufus closer to him, until her head was resting on his chest and Rufus was snuggling between their bodies. Hugo’s arm had come around her shoulders and squeezed her gently until she had fallen asleep once more.

The following morning, he had been incredibly quiet at leaving her bed, and when she woke up, she found herself once again alone, with only a slight warmth where he had lain to remind her that he had been there. Rufus was gone too, probably he had followed Hugo out of her room and Hugo had fed him. That was good, she could laze about for a bit longer without an impatient feline to bite and lick her awake.

She took it easy that day, thinking that she deserved to relax  as much as she could, since that evening she would have to meet Derek’s parents. She went to the newsroom, dropped off her letters, collected the new ones that would have to wait until the following day for a reply – she had no intention of working at all – and finally went to see her mother.

Her mother looked like she was still swamped with things to do that had certainly piled on in the past week, while she had been away on holiday. Nonetheless, she told Lily to come in and smiled warmly at her when Lily walked into her office.

“Hello, my love,” she said sweetly. “Is everything alright?”

Lily nodded as she walked towards a chair. “Yeah,” she replied, sitting down. “Did you and Dad have fun at ours on Saturday evening?”

Her mother nodded gently. “You and Hugo are wonderful hosts,” she assured her. “Your dad and Uncle Ron were already deciding when it was best for them to invite themselves over at yours again.” She chuckled. “Basically every night it’s good for them, apparently.”

“Great,” she deadpanned. “Alas, you have to let them know that Hugo and I are very busy, you know.”

“Oh yes, I know… Someone is having dinner with the boss and his wife, tonight, isn’t she?” she asked, with a grin.

Lily closed her eyes as she buried her face in her hands. “Who told you?”

“It was Mr Quills. He asked me if your father and I cared to join the four of you at their—”

“You said no, I hope!” gasped Lily.

“I said—”

“Please, Mum, don’t ruin my life, yet.”

She grinned at her daughter, visibly amused with her discomfort. “I said we were busy with some sort of Ministry thingy,” she said. “Luckily it’s August, so the Ministry thingies are too many to count, but this was a big fat lie, Lily.”

“Thank you,” sighed Lily.

“I’m not that insensitive,” she said. “I remember when your Uncle Ron and your Aunt Hermione had their first dinner with both Grandma and Granddad and with Aunt Hermione’s parents. Uncle Ron was almost going to die of embarrassment when Granddad asked Aunt Hermione’s parents if he could take home with him their fake teeth.”

“Oh God,” murmured Lily.

“I know,” said her mother. “Now, tell me everything about tonight. What are you going to wear? Are you excited? What are you bringing them?”

“I don’t know. No. I don’t know,” she replied flatly. “I’m not looking forward to it one bit, Mum. I’m scared and I’d rather stay home with Hugo than go and have dinner with Derek and his parents.”

Her mother tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Well, it’s just one evening, Lily,” she said sweetly. “You just have to behave and be polite. They’re being very sweet to invite you, I reckon.”

“You’re saying that only because you never had to suffer through dinner with Dad’s parents,” she complained before biting down hard on her bottom lip the moment she understood what she had said. “I’m sorry,” she hurried to add. “I didn’t mean to be mean.”

Her mother took a deep breath. “It’s okay,” she said. “And anyway, I think I would have enjoyed having dinner with Grandma Lily and Granddad James a great deal, Lily.”

“I know,” she replied meekly. “So what shall I wear?”

“I think that the dress that we brought you from Italy is a great idea, don’t you think?” she said gently.

“What? But I wanted to wear that on Friday,” she protested.

“What are you doing on Friday?”

“I’m going out with Hugo and his friends,” she said, “after their trainings. We’re going to have dinner and then go to a pub or a club, I guess. To dance. I’m so looking forward to that!”

Her mother cocked an eyebrow. “You’re looking forward to that, but not to tonight,” she stated. “Don’t you spend too much time with Hugo, Lily?”

“Mum, we live together, we’re bound to spend a lot of time together,” she replied simply. “Anyway, I suppose I can wear the same dress twice, Hugo is not going to see me anyway tonight… Of course, unless he waits up for me like last time…”

“He waits up for you? That’s sweet, I suppose.”

“He is sweet, Mum,” she said, smiling softly. She was about to tell her that he couldn’t sleep when they fought, and that he would help her out with the most embarrassing of letters, and that they shared the same bed some nights, but her mother’s serious face prevented Lily from pouring her heart out to her at that moment in time. “I should go,” she said instead. “Get ready for tonight… work on some letters… you know…”

Her mother nodded. “Say hi to Mrs Quills from me, okay?”

“I will,” she replied. “Hey, did you get the invitation to Victoire’s surprise baby-shower?”

“I did, thank you for inviting me,” she said. “Need help with organising it?”

“I’ll let you know, but for now we’ve got it covered.” She winked at her mother and waved goodbye as she walked out of the office.

***

Lily was grateful that her mother had raised the question of what she would bring to Derek’s parents, because she had completely forgotten about that very important detail.

She had to show that she was generous and classy, intelligent and knowledgeable about desserts. Yes, desserts. She didn’t want them to think that she was a drunkard. She had gone and bought the most elaborated and delicious-looking cake she could find. It was a Red Velvet Cake covered in macaroons and filled with a delicious heart of dark chocolate. She had paid it good money, too. She had ordered it from Florean Fortescue’s that morning, thanked them profusely and disappeared before they could point out that they didn’t actually make cakes. They told her that when she went to retrieve the cake, but it was too late then and they had prepared it anyway.

She donned the dress her parents had brought her from Italy, and styled her hair into a pretty braid that rested softly down her chest. She wore a bit of makeup, and the prettiest jewels that she owned. She wore pumps and grabbed the bag that they had brought her from Italy.  

She checked herself in the mirror only a dozen times before finally crouching on the floor to rub Rufus goodbye. “You’ve got food in your bowl,” she told him, “water, and clean litter in your litterbox. And your daddy will be home soon, so be a good Kneazle and behave, okay?”

He jumped back and attacked her hand, biting softly on her fingers without much conviction. “I know, I don’t want to go either,” she sighed, “but it wouldn’t be nice of me to ditch them at the last minute.”

She grabbed him and detached him from the finger he was still biting, placing him back on the floor. “Be good,” she said, patting him one last time.

She sighed again, over-dramatically now, and walked towards the door, the cake in her hand, her bag in the other. She glanced at Rufus one last time before closing the door at her back and locking it. She dragged her feet to the Apparition point, gave one last glance at the address and closed her eyes. At least she had a destination; she couldn’t say the same thing about determination or deliberation though.

Nonetheless, with a little prayer not to split along the way, she closed her eyes and felt the familiar tug of Apparition as she was transported across London.

Mr and Mrs Quills didn’t live in Diagon Alley – which was not surprising, her own parents and Hugo’s didn’t live in a magical part of the city either. Their flat was in an old building in Kensington, only a few feet away from the gates of Kensington Gardens with their tall columns and elaborated iron figures. She looked for number 24 amongst the beautiful houses that skirted the park.

It was a white house, with an imposing front door and a quite a long list of names next to the bell. Quills was the second from the bottom and she brushed her wand as discreetly as she could over it, just like Derek had told her to do.

The name glowered and the door opened with a loud click in front of her. She pushed it open and walked inside, finding herself in front of a steep iron wrought staircase.

She heard a door open and close somewhere upstairs and then hurried steps on the stairs. She smiled, relieved when Derek appeared in front of her.

“Oh God,” he said quietly as he made his way towards her. “You look gorgeous.” He walked to her and lowered his head to kiss her forehead before taking the cake from her hands. “What did you bring? You shouldn’t have, Lily. Oh Merlin, have I already said how beautiful you look?”

She giggled at how nervous he was, and weirdly enough she felt suddenly rather calm herself. “Thank you. It’s just cake. Yes, I think I should have. And thank you again.”

He smiled softly at her as he guided her towards the stairs. “Did you find the place alright? My mum kept telling me to come and pick you up at your flat, but I didn’t know if you’d already left.”

“It was really easy to find, thank you,” she replied. “What a lovely place.”

“It’s quite nice,” he replied. “Their flat isn’t ginormous, but the view is breath-taking.”

She smiled as he made her climb up three flights of stairs, until they reached an old-looking door with the name ‘Quills’ engraved in gold, and two quills underneath.

“My mum’s really excited to meet you,” he whispered as he pushed the door open.

Mrs Quills was in front of them before Lily had even managed to take a step inside. “Lily!” she exclaimed, plump hands going to her mouth. Her brown curls bounced around her face and her blue eyes opened wide, as if she was trying to look at Lily as intensely as possible. She stretched her arms a moment later, enveloping Lily in a hug that smelled like flowers and roast chicken. “Oh, it’s such a pleasure to finally meet you,” she said enthusiastically. “Look at you,” she added, tilting her head back. “You look gorgeous. Oh my! Now I know why our Derek can’t stop talking about you!”

“Mum, please,” he groaned, blushing furiously. “Look. Lily brought cake.”

“Oh so, so, so sweet,” said Mrs Quills.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs Quills,” she said politely. “Thank you for having me.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Lily,” she said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to guide her inside. “And call me Katherine, dear. Mrs Quills makes me feel so old. Edward. Edward, our son’s beautiful girl is here.”

Lily heard Derek groan at their back and she felt herself blush as she was pushed towards a sofa in the spacious living room.

“Please, do sit, my dear,” said Mrs Quills. “Would you like something to drink? Some pumpkin juice? A Butterbeer?”

“Whatever you’re having,” she replied, smoothing her dress before sitting down gracefully amongst soft cushions.

“Edward! Oh, we’re going to have a Bloody Mary, but I don’t know if you like it,” said Mrs Quills gently.

“I love it,” she replied automatically, not really knowing what she was agreeing to.

“Marvellous,” said Mrs Quills. “Ed—oh, here you are. Our lovely guest is here.”

Lily stood up as Mr Quills walked towards her. “Mr Quills,” she said politely. “Thank you for having me.”

He shook her hand. “Potter, I hope you found the house—”

“Don’t call her Potter,” chastised Mrs Quills from somewhere behind the sofa when Lily sat down again. “Call her Lily.” She made her way back towards them with four tall glasses filled with something red and a green vegetable that looked like celery.

Celery! What a weird thing to put in a drink!

“Here you go, dear,” said Mrs Quills, offering her a glass. “And we have cheese and croutons and finger food as hors d’oeuvre.”

“Thank you, Mrs—Katherine,” she said. “I hope you didn’t do too much for me.” She brought the glass to her lips and sipped thoughtfully. The green thing was definitely celery, and the red liquid tasted like tomato. What the heck was she drinking again? That was surely something that Hugo would have appreciated, because, apart from the alcohol, it seemed like a quite healthy drink. She liked it; she liked it quite a lot. “This is delicious,” she said, grinning widely. She hurried to grab some hors d’oeuvre from the platter as soon as the alcohol made its way to her empty stomach, though, not wanting to get tipsy in front of her boss and Derek’s parents.

“Thank you, my dear,” replied Mrs Quills, smiling warmly. “Ah, but do tell me a little about you. You’re a celebrity, aren’t you? Harry and Ginny Potter’s only daughter. I’ve read all the articles about you when you were little. I’ve always thought that you were the cutest child I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank you, Mother,” deadpanned Derek.

“Oh you were cute, too,” she said lightly, “but Lily was gorgeous. With her big, brown eyes and her small, cute nose covered in freckles, and those flaming locks and her fair skin—”

“You’re embarrassing her, Kate,” snickered Mr Quills. “She’s turning as red as her _flaming_ locks.”

Lily blushed even more furiously. “No, no. You’re really sweet, Katherine,” she hurried to say. “Victoire was the really cute baby in the family, though,” she added. “She was blonde with big, blue eyes. She’s my cousin. I mean, she was already eight when I was born, but I’ve seen her pictures.”

“Victoire Weasley,” said Mrs Quills. “Of course, she was a little beautiful thing as well, but I’ve got a soft spot for redheads. Just like my Derek.” She giggled and winked at Lily, and Derek sighed out loud. “And I love your letters, Lily. You’re so much better than that Lavender Brown; she only knew what to write when people asked her about makeup or hair lotions or broken nails.”

“Lavender Finnegan,” pointed out Mr Quills calmly. “She just got married and had a baby, you remember, Kathy, right?”

Mrs Quills snorted. “Yes, we had to send her those preposterous things she had on the wedding list. What a horrible centrepiece, horrible, horrible.” She looked at Lily. “Would you ever put a vase in the shape of a Crup that wags its tail every time you put flowers in it on your wedding list?”

Lily wrinkled her nose at the notion. “I really don’t think so,” she said truthfully.

“Of course, when you get married, we won’t have a list to choose from,” giggled Mrs Quills. “As parents of the groom, we will buy you a house, and you won’t need to make a list at all.”

Lily almost choked on the Bloody Mary, while Derek gasped and started to tell his mother things such as, “… going out only a month…”, “…can’t say these things…”, “…God, I’m so embarrassed…”. Mr Quills was snorting and shaking his head at the scene, obviously enjoying Lily and Derek’s discomfort immensely.

“I’m sorry, Lily,” huffed Mrs Quills once Lily had regained some kind of composure. “Apparently, it’s not right to mention your wedding yet. Even though my Edward and I got married two months after our first date. Apparently, times are different now, or so I’m told…”

“It’s alright,” she mumbled into her glass. “You have a lovely house, Katherine,” was her feeble attempt at changing the subject. “I bet the view is also lovely.”

“It is,” she replied, her tone suddenly warm once more. “Derek, why don’t you take her to the balcony while I check on our dinner?”

“Don’t you need help with anything, Katherine? I’d rather—”

“Don’t worry,” said Mrs Quills, standing up and waving a hand dismissively. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of occasions to help me.” She winked again, added a high-pitched giggle for good measure, and disappeared into the kitchen while Mr Quills picked up the Prophet and started reading and snorting.

Derek nodded towards a tall glass door and stood up from the sofa, offering her a hand to help her stand as well. He guided her towards the door and opened it, ushering her on the balcony.

The view from there was breath taking. The sun setting over Kensington Gardens tinged everything of the warmest nuances of orange and red; the bulky crowns of the trees shuddered in the late evening breeze and, behind them, Muggle London was pulsing with thousands of lights and sounds and colours.

“Wow,” she breathed. “This is gorgeous.”

“It’s not bad,” he admitted with a chuckle. “I’ve painted it so many times, though, that I can’t almost look at it anymore.”

She glanced up at him and smiled. “Is that what will happen with me?” she asked. “You’ll paint me so many times that you won’t be able to look at me anymore?”

He turned to look at her, a matching smile on his lips. “No,” he replied. “Because this landscape is unchangeable, always the same park, the same trees, the same houses. While you… you are always different, and I’m not talking about your clothes, even though I’ve never seen you with the same dress twice.” His smile broadened. “Every time I see you I learn something new and fantastic about you. Like how good you are at cooking, the way you bit your bottom lip when you’re focused on something, how your freckles disappear when you blush…”

She proceeded to do just that: blush. “This landscape changes, too,” she pointed out, looking in front of her. “Every year, every season, four times a year.”

“And every time it’s always the same,” he replied calmly. “Unlike you…” He stretched a hand towards her cheek and she leant into his touch.

“Shall we go and see if your mother needs help?” she asked softly. “She’s well sweet, and I don’t want to be impolite.”

“She likes you a great deal,” he admitted. “More than me…”

“Cause I was a cuter baby than you were,” giggled Lily.

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll have you know that I was one hell of a cute baby,” he said, “and you’ll probably see it, because my mother will take out some embarrassing pictures at some point… She honestly has no boundaries…”

“She’s nice,” said Lily calmly. “She’s fun.”

“She’s the complete opposite of my father, that’s why they’re so well matched.”

“Opposites attract.”

“Yeah,” he replied. He looked at her, seemingly wanting to add something more; Lily felt the urge to grab his hand and turn away in a desperate attempt to stop whatever might follow.

“Let’s go back inside,” she said. “I’m so looking forward to this dinner.”

“Hope you like pasta and chicken,” he whispered. “My mum’s specialities.”

She nodded. “Love them.”

“Let’s go then,” he said and finally guided her towards the kitchen and the lavish dinner that his mother had prepared for them.


	26. Chapter 26

***

Lily was slightly concerned when she found a note from Mr Quills the morning after her dinner at her boss’ house. It was one of his very direct messages that ordered her to go to his office as soon as she read it.

Her eyes widened; she closed the door of Lavender’s office at her back, stuffed the letters into her bag and sat down at the desk, trying to think hard about the night before and if everything had gone all right.

In her opinion, it had.

Mrs Quills – Katherine as she had asked Lily to call her at the beginning of the evening, Kate by the end of the evening – filled her plate with so much food that Lily had only barely managed to get to the cake that she had brought. But everything was so delicious that she had certainly no reason to complain.

Derek had alternatively beamed at her every time she was conversing amiably with his mother and groaned when Katherine would mention their wedding, another family dinner like that, the idea of meeting Lily’s parents.

She had produced many photo albums of little Derek, from when he was born to the moment he graduated from Hogwarts. Derek was a cute child. He looked shy in those pictures, always sitting a bit aside from his friends, always looking at the camera as if he was thinking about some philosophical matter.

By the time they had reached the last album, he had turned the colour of the Red Velvet Cake and Lily had giggled until her stomach hurt. Mr Quills had laughed too, and all in all, it had been a really pleasant evening.

Derek had even accompanied her home, hugging her to his chest, thanking her for her patience with his parents, kissing her forehead and trying so hard to coax a real kiss out of her.

And yet, she he couldn’t kiss him. God! Why couldn’t she? He was a wonderful young man, but the moment she had bid him goodnight and walked into her building, all she could think about was Hugo and the fact that she was going out with him and his friends in two days. What was wrong with her? She shouldn’t have thought such things.

Hugo was already sleeping when she walked into the flat. She hurried to her room and took off the dress, smoothing it on a chair and getting ready to use it again on Friday night.

The fact that she found a note on her pillow the moment she went to bed didn’t help her taking her mind off Hugo.

> _Lily, I’ll very probably be eating all by myself at the river tomorrow. Care to join me? You can tell me everything about your ~~date~~ evening. And we can talk about Friday night – I’m so looking forward to that. And I can help you with some letters if you want. Love you, H xxx PS—Rufus is sleeping with me, hope you’re not too jealous. x_

She was going to have lunch with him at the river. She was bringing her own lunch this time and they were going to explore the River Piddle a bit more thoroughly. Maybe they were going to find another secret place where they’d have met in secret every day…

“Ugh!” groaned Lily when she noticed that her mind had wandered once more to her cousin. She shook her head to send those thoughts away. She stood up from Lavender’s chair with a resolute expression, decided to look as calm as possible as she went to Mr Quills’ office.

She walked out of Lavender’s office and put a smile on her face as she made her way to her boss. She knocked on the door and waited for him to tell her to come in.

“Hello,” she said when she pushed the door open. “You wanted to see me, Mr Quills?”

He nodded and gestured for the chair across from him. “Lily,” he said as she sat, “Lily, Lily, Lily.”

“Mr Quills,” she said slowly, cocking an eyebrow at the use of her first name.

“Call me Edward,” he said. “My wife was very impressed with you last night.”

“She’s very sweet,” said Lily quickly. “A lovely—”

“I know,” he interrupted her. “A lovely person, such a great host, a very good mother. Anyway, obviously she loves you already.”

“I like her too,” she said, hoping that she could forego the word ‘love’ without him noticing. “And she cooks really well.”

He nodded, rubbing his belly almost absent-mindedly. “We’re organising a little family outing,” he said, “next Saturday. And she— _we_ ’d be delighted if you’d make it.”

Lily tried hard not to let her mouth hanging wide open in surprise at the unexpected – and definitely unwanted – invitation. She tried to think if she had anything planned for next Saturday. What was the date again? Oh, right… Thank Merlin! “Oh, that’s… that’s when I’m organising my cousin’s baby-shower. I’m afraid I can’t attend.”

Mr Quills seemed to glare at her. “My wife will be devastated,” he said calmly but coldly.

“I’m really, _really_ sorry…” she hurried to say. “I’ll be completely and utterly free on the first weekend of September. Wouldn’t that work for you? Or any weekend in September really. It’s just that this month I’m a bit, just a bit, busy. So incredibly sorry for that.”

He waved a hand in front of her. “That’s alright,” he replied, apparently not as concerned about her absence at the outing as she had at first thought. “We do have September outings every now and then. We like to go to the Lake District. Have you ever been?”

“Not really,” she replied. “I’ve read that it’s beautiful, though.”

“Yes, it is. And my wife insisted that I told you to invite your family too, Lily,” he said, nodding. “Your mother and your father especially.”

She swallowed, even though there still were three weeks to the first weekend of September, she couldn’t help fretting about going out with Derek’s family and her own. It sounded so serious. “I’ll tell them,” she said, her voice a bit croaky.

“Good, good,” he said, nodding again. “You may go now—ah, where did you get that cake from last night?”

“Florean Fortescue’s, but I’m afraid they don’t really do cakes,” she admitted. “It was a bit of a misunderstanding.”

“I see, well, it was good, we might have to keep the misunderstanding going,” he said. “Good day, Pot—Lily.”

“Good day to you, Mr Quills.”

***

Lily’s lips parted in surprise when her eyes were covered all of a sudden and she was pulled back, until a broad chest pressed against her shoulder blades.

“Guess who?” whispered a voice in her ear.

She cocked her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “Rufus’ Daddy?”

There was a little chuckle. “And are you his Mummy?” he whispered.

“Adoptive Mummy, I don’t really remember giving birth to that furry thing,” she pointed out.

Hugo was laughing when he released her eyes. His hand slipped into hers and then he was guiding her towards the river before she could even understand that they were walking.

“I waited for you at the stadium,” he said. “I thought you’d meet me there.”

“And I thought you’d meet me here,” she pointed out. “We had a little miscommunication, I think.” She gave him a little shove. “All your fault, naturally. Your note wasn’t clear enough.”

“Well, I found you, so it was clear enough,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m going to take you down the river a little, is that okay?”

“To that place where you said that you can swim?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t really want to take a dip in the frozen waters of the River Piddle, Hugo.”

He turned to look at her and grinned. “Not even if I warm you up afterwards?”

“If you take a swim too, you’ll be frozen as well,” she pointed out. She glanced at him, suspiciously. “Unless you wanted to push me in there and then have a laugh before you fish me out again.”

He chuckled again, but didn’t reply as he guided Lily over the same little bridge that they had had lunch on the last time she was there. They crossed it quickly and finally found themselves on a little path in an even thicker part of the wood. They kept walking for twenty minutes, until they reached a gentle slope that descended to the river. He helped her walking amongst roots and bushes, to the sandy bank.

He turned to look at her as they stood on the dark sand. “Here,” he grinned. “Isn’t this a nice place?”

She nodded, looking around herself and at the clear water of the river. It looked a bit like the pond at the Burrow, and Lily smiled softly at the memory of many summers spent there playing. “But aren’t you going to be late for the afternoon trainings? It took us long enough to get here.”

“I’ll Apparate back,” he said calmly. “Shall we have lunch now?”

She nodded as they chose a nice, clean spot where to sit. She took out her own sandwiches from her bag at the same time as Hugo offered her two of his own. They both laughed at the thought that there was another little miscommunication.

“Last time you had to deprive yourself of your sustainment,” she pointed out. “This time, I came prepared.”

“Me, too,” he said, placing two sandwiches back in his backpack. “So,” he said slowly. “How was your evening? Did you have fun?”

She nodded. “Mrs Quills is absolutely crazy about me,” she admitted. “Like she knew things from my childhood that she gathered from the newspapers. She kept saying that I was the cutest baby she’s ever seen, and Derek wasn’t very happy about it.”

“Poor Derek,” he chuckled. “Do they have a nice house?”

“Their flat is really nice, but the position is what’s spectacular,” she replied. “They have a wonderful view of Kensington Gardens and half of London. Honestly gorgeous. Derek said that he’d painted it so many times that he’s a bit sick of it, though.”

Hugo nodded as he bit on his sandwich. “I see,” he said. “And did you eat well?”

“I ate a lot,” she admitted. “They kept feeding me. Probably they thought I don’t eat enough.”

“Isn’t that always what I tell you?” he grinned.

“No, you tell me I eat too much junk food,” she replied, glancing at him askew. “And I don’t, not since I moved in with you.”

“I’ll take credit for that, thank you very much,” he said.

She shoved him a little with her shoulder. “Listen, let’s talk about tomorrow night,” she said. “Where are we going? What are we doing? Another pub crawl?” She grinned excitedly at that, even though she hadn’t managed to finish it the first time, she was looking forward to doing it again.

Hugo stared seriously at her. “You want to get completely wasted,” he stated, his tone rather unimpressed.

“We could get wasted together,” she said, smiling. “It could be fun.”

“And who’s going to take care of us? McLaggen?”

“I know who’s going to take care of you, Mr Weasley,” she replied, shrugging a shoulder. “Some girl will be all over you, letting you lean your head on her bosom and keeping your hair away from your face while you puke.”

He looked away from her and at the water. “I’m usually not that wasted, thank you very much,” he replied darkly. “I’m not like you.”

“Just because you have much more muscular mass than I do,” she pouted, “but you’re just as bad a drunk as I am.”

“But I drink to have fun, not to get wasted,” he insisted.

“I drink to have fun too, Hugo!” she protested. “I don’t drink to get wasted.” She focused on her sandwich and gave it a vicious bite.

Suddenly, his hand sneaked shyly on her arm. “Hey,” he said calmly. “I’m sorry if I said something that offended you, but I really don’t want to fight.” He rubbed her arm soothingly and she turned to look at him.

“Me neither,” she said, sighing. “Tell me about last night. Did you miss me?”

“Of course I did. Had nobody to tease nor anything to do except lazing about on the sofa and talking to a cat.”

“Kneazle.”

“Kneazle, I’m sorry. By the time we went to bed, I was starting to meow.”

Lily shook her head. “And that was only one night,” she pointed out. “What’s going to happen next weekend?”

“Why? What’s happening next weekend?”

“The baby-shower, remember? I’ll be busy all Friday and Saturday, helping out Auntie Fleur with the preparations and then having the actual party,” she said. “I’m sorry that men are not invited, cause it’s going to be an awesome baby-shower, you know.”

“Because you’re organising it…”

“Of course,” she said. “And you could have helped us setting up the place if only Auntie Fleur had allowed that. Stupid baby-shower rules.”

Hugo looked at her and tried to suffocate a laugh. “Yeah, stupid rules,” he sniggered.

“Oh, shut up, you’re happy I won’t be able to rope you into helping us,” she said, sticking out her tongue at him.

“Guilty as charged,” he admitted. “Anyway, maybe I could organise something with Teddy and the guys. Otherwise we’ll be a bunch of losers whose girls are out having fun while we stay inside and wait for them to come home on Saturday night.”

She furrowed her brow. “Who are you talking about?”

He furrowed his brow back at her, as if he thought she was weird for asking that question. “Teddy and Victoire? Rose and Scorpius?”

“You and me?” she added softly.

“Of course, you’re my girl,” he replied with a grin. “The one who cooks for me and cleans up the house and buys me presents…”

“Ha, ha,” she deadpanned. “Is that what you think a girlfriend should do? Look after you?”

He nodded again. “Make me a sandwich, woman,” he ordered, his voice suddenly deep, “and put extra ketchup in there.”

She glanced at him askew, stretched herself forward, until her hand was in the water, and then she sprayed Hugo with it. She laughed as he blinked in surprise and tried to save his sandwich from getting wet.

“Are you sure that was wise?” he asked, brushing away the water from his face. “You do know that I can throw you in there before you even understand that I’ve grabbed you and raised you off the ground, right?”

She giggled; he was right. “But you’d never do that, would you?” she said sweetly as she wrapped her arms around one of his. “Right, Hugo? You love me far too much to throw me in the cold water of the river… and right after I’ve had a sandwich… I could die…” She leant her head on his shoulder and he sighed.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I’m not going to do it. But I could if I wanted, you know. Grab you with my bare hands, and raise you over my head…”

“I know,” she replied, patting his arm. “You’re so strong.” 

He leant his head over hers, and for a moment they just ate their sandwiches in that awkward position, making crumbles falling on each other and then throwing them back at each other for good measure, as if they were children. They laughed and chatted a bit more, until Hugo almost gasped at the time and they had to Disapparate to the stadium in a hurry.

“I’ll see you tonight,” said Hugo softly as they stood in front of the gate that led to the stadium.

“Yeah, I’ll need help with—”

“Lily! Lily!”

They both turned to look at Marie walking briskly towards them. A big, bright smile on her lips. “Hi, Lily,” she said cheerfully as she came to stand next to Hugo.

“Hi Marie,” replied Lily, a forced smile tugging her lips, too.

“So,” started Marie, glancing between Hugo and Lily, “when Hugo disappears, we just know that you’ve come to see him.”

Lily furrowed her brow. “I’ve only come twice,” she said. “To have lunch with him, I mean.”

“Only twice?” said Marie with a little shrug. “It feels like more.” She wrapped an arm around Hugo’s waist, and leant her head on his arm, as if she had missed him greatly during their lunch break.

Hugo looked from one girl to the other and smiled awkwardly at both of them. “Sometimes I go by myself, Marie,” he said diplomatically. “I like to take a walk around instead of locking myself in the canteen. River Piddle is really quite beautiful, you know.”

“I’ll come with you, next time,” she said sweetly, glancing at Lily.

Lily bit her tongue so forcefully that it almost hurt. “You should,” she said frostily.

“Anyway,” said Hugo quickly, probably sensing the tension around him. “Lily is coming out with us tomorrow night. Isn’t that cool?”

Marie’s face brightened up suddenly. “So cool,” she said excitedly. “Shall we have another pub crawl? You enjoyed it last time, didn’t you, Lily?”

“It was nice,” she replied, scratching her arm a little. “I don’t remember much after the fourth or fifth pub, though.”

Marie thought it fitting to laugh at that. “We need to remedy, then,” she said. “We can start in reverse order and then you’ll know what each and every single pub looks like.”

“Yeah,” interjected Hugo, “but she’s not going to drink as much as last time. Right, Lily?”

She looked at him, a bit surprised and a bit annoyed at his incredibly serious tone of voice. He really had to stop treating her like she was a recovering alcoholic. “We’ll see,” she replied coldly.

“She wants to get drunk, Hugo,” giggled Marie. “She’s so much fun when she’s drunk too, isn’t she?”

Lily was happy to see that Hugo was glaring at Marie as well, because the tone of the girl was blatantly cheeky.

“You can tell Derek to come, too,” added Marie. “I’d love to see him again.”

“I don’t think he’d enjoy it,” replied Hugo before Lily could even open her mouth. “He doesn’t drink much, does he?”

Lily shook her head. “No, and I’m seeing him on Saturday as well, I wouldn’t—”

“You’re seeing him on Saturday?” Hugo’s voice was a weird mixture of annoyed and dejected.

Lily nodded. “He’s going to paint me,” she said, blushing.

“Oh, isn’t that romantic?” Marie looked up at Hugo. “I wish you could paint me too, Hugo.”

Lily tried to hide her annoyance as best as she could, luckily, Hugo was staring at the ground and Marie was looking up at him, so nobody was noticing the emotions crossing her face. “I should go,” she said coldly. “You have your trainings, and I have work to do. I’ll see you later, Hugo. See you tomorrow, Marie.”

“Bye Lily,” said Marie. “Can’t wait for tomorrow.”

“Lily—”

But she was already gone, and Hugo’s words got lost as she Disapparated. 

***

When Lily opened her eyes in the middle of the night, she was not surprised in the least to find herself enveloped in Hugo’s arms.

They had had a harsh fight, right after Lily had said that she had changed her mind about the following night, that she didn’t want to go and stay sober and have to witness the obscene amount of flirting that was going on between him and Marie.

Hugo had told her that she was out of her mind, that there was no flirting, that she had promised to come, that she had greatly disappointed him, that she just wanted to get wasted.

In the end, she had grabbed a packet of crisps and slammed her door shut as she screamed at him to stop talking. She glared at her door all evening, but he never came in, and in the end, she fell asleep.

And now, it was really no surprise at all that he was there, in her bed, with his arms wound tightly around her, and she was so happy that he was there. She felt it like a little victory over Marie and her sarcastic tone when she had talked to Lily early that day. _I wish you could paint me too, Hugo._ Ugh! Disgusting.

She scrunched her eyes up to send away any thought of Marie. She didn’t want to have any at that moment, she was in Hugo’s arms – where she felt safe and loved and happy – and Marie definitely wasn’t.

She sneaked her arms around his torso and squeezed him back in a hug. He hummed in his sleep and finally murmured, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she assured him with a sigh. “I’m coming tomorrow.”

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” he whispered, a bit more awake than a few seconds before.

She smiled and leant her head on his chest, giggling softly.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“People don’t giggle for nothing,” he yawned.

“It’s just that you said that we don’t have to go if I don’t want to,” she replied. “It was sweet of you to imply that you wouldn’t go either if I didn’t want to go.”

He tightened his arms around her, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’d get bored without you.”

“Liar,” she said before kissing his chest. “But thank you for saying it.”

He smiled, and she could feel his chin press on her head as he did. “Lily…”

“Hmm?”

“I wasn’t flirting with Marie, I swear,” he mumbled. “I know she was but I… I only want—”

“I know,” she sighed, taking a deep breath. “I got it, you know.”

Hugo shifted slightly against her, but when he whispered, “Did-did you?” his voice was so throaty she barely understood him.

“Yeah, I know why you haven’t properly asked her out yet: you want to focus on your trainings until the trials.” She swallowed loudly. “Maybe you’ll get together with her after you’re picked for the team.” She didn’t want that. She really, really didn’t want that. “Or maybe with someone else, right?”

Hugo didn’t reply for such a long moment that Lily convinced herself that he had fallen asleep once more. Therefore, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to claim her as well.

“Yeah,” he said suddenly, his voice throaty. “That’s what I meant.”

“I’m going to miss you when you have a girlfriend. Things won’t be—”

“Lily, let’s sleep,” he cut her off. “I have to wake up early tomorrow and—”

“Hey, you’re in my bed!” she pointed out, digging a finger in his chest. “And now you’re telling me to shut up, too.”

He squeezed her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. “Yes, I am,” he replied. “I love you, Lily.” He kissed her again. “So much.” He kissed her a third time. “So, so, so much.”

She sighed and smiled, feeling like she was melting against him. “I love you back.”

“Alright. _Now_ , we can sleep,” he announced contently.

She shook her head, amused. “Good night, Hugo.”

“Good night, Lils.”

***

Lily was tempted to wear the dress she had bought in Penzance for her evening out with Hugo and his friends. It was short, sexy, and just plain beautiful. Perfect to make Marie turn green with envy. It was a wonder too that Aunt Hermione had endorsed her choice, but probably she had been as annoyed as Lily and Hugo were about Uncle Ron’s continuous remarks on her clothes, and she considered letting Lily buy the dress their private revenge to assert their girl power. Or something like that.

She decided against it, though. The dress was specifically for the party, and she couldn’t wait to make an impression in front of Hugo and all those Quidditch players and people that would have an influence on her future career as a Quidditch correspondent. Whenever that’d be.

And surely, at the party, Hugo would have eyes all for her. He would dance with her, not even seeing Marie and any other girl.

She shook her head. “Oh God!” she groaned. “Stop thinking like that, Lily! Hugo is not yours. He is just your cousin, okay? What the hell is wrong with you?” She glared at her reflection in the mirror. “I know that Louis, Fred and Teddy had never been this… affectionate with you, but that doesn’t mean that you have to mistake his cousinly love for… something else. Okay? Can you stop?” She sighed and shook her head again, as if she knew that she couldn’t stop. “Anyway, let’s find something to wear for tonight, shall we?”

She had decided that she didn’t want to wear the dress that her parents had brought her from Italy. Hugo had seen it still lying on her chair the night before and he had awkwardly asked her if she had worn that for her date with Derek and his parents. She had replied just as awkwardly that yes, that was the dress and he had looked particularly abashed for some reason, and now she definitely didn’t want to don it and remind him of her night with Derek.

She opened her wardrobe and, as always since Hugo had cleaned her room, she was a little surprised to find it tidy and with all her clothes perfectly hanged or folded. She was also surprised to find what to wear straight away.

She went for black leggings, a loose t-shirt with strass, and pumps. She gathered her hair up in a messy bun and looked herself over in the mirror. Of course, dressed like that she looked so young that it would be a miracle to manage to get into each and every single pub without being stopped at the door and asked for some sort of identification.

She didn’t quite care, though. They could check her Transfigured driving license or search for the trace around her for as long as they wanted, she was of age and ready to party hard.

She made her way to the kitchen, filled Rufus’ bowls with fresh water and cat food, rubbed him between his ears and bid him goodnight. “Don’t wait for us,” she giggled. “I’m sure we’re going to be late.”

Rufus looked up at her and she was quite sure that he didn’t seem too happy about those news. He planted his paws on her thigh and pouted, meowing seriously at her.

“Come on, we’ll be together all day tomorrow,” she assured him. “And when we get back tonight, you can sleep in my bed, and we’ll cuddle all night.”

He grabbed her hand and bit her with his tiny teeth, and Lily let him until he decided that the food was more interesting than her fingers.

Finally, she was able to walk out of the flat and make her way to the Apparition point. She was nervous, more nervous than the first time she had gone out with Hugo’s friends.

She was somehow anxious about talking to Marie this time. It was clear as day that she didn’t like Lily anymore. Lily wasn’t sure why that was, but Marie’s behaviour had changed greatly towards her in the past few weeks.

Oh well, Lily was ready to ask her what was her problem, in case it came to that. She hoped it didn’t come to that after she had drunk too much, though, because she wanted to remember what Marie said and tell Hugo afterwards.

She closed her eyes and thought intensely about her destination, the Puddlemere Stadium, where she would meet up with Hugo and the others. It was six o’clock when her feet touched the soft grass in front of the gate.

“Well, look at you,” said McLaggen the moment she opened her eyes. “I’m pretty sure this is the first time I see you wearing trousers instead of a dress.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “These are called leggings,” she pointed out, “and I don’t always wear skirts and dresses, for your information, John.”

He shrugged a shoulder before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and dragging her a bit farther away from the entrance to the stadium. “So,” he said, lowering his voice as he brought his head closer to hers, “how are things going on? You okay?”

“Yes,” she replied slowly, “but why are you whispering?”

He glanced over his shoulder to a couple of players who walked out of the stadium, already dressed up for the evening. He nodded at them and looked back at her. “No reason,” he said. “Hey, if you want to sit next to me at the restaurant, you’re more than welcome to, you know?”

She looked at him, surprised. “Thank you,” she said. “That’s sweet, John.”

“What can I say? I’m a sweet guy,” he grinned.

“I didn’t know that,” she replied calmly. “Anyway, I’m happy to sit next to you. I’m… I’m not looking forward to sitting next to the girls like last time… Marie is being a bit… I don’t know, not very nice, I suppose… with me I mean.”

He nodded. “I see. Yeah, I understand,” he replied, and for a moment he seemed to want to add something. He didn’t though, but probably it was because more people walked out of the stadium at that moment and their voices grew louder at their backs. “You sit next to me, then,” whispered McLaggen as Hugo reached them.

“Hey,” Hugo greeted her. “You look beautiful.”

Lily smiled at him. He was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, and he looked quite neat himself. “Thank you, you too.”

He stretched a hand towards her and she felt McLaggen’s arm unwrap from her shoulders. When she glanced at John, he was raising his hands over his head, eyebrows high on his forehead and an impish grin over his face.

“What?” asked Lily, looking from him to Hugo.

Hugo shook his head. “Don’t mind him,” he muttered, stretching his arm a bit more towards her. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her to him. “Are you ready for tonight?”

“Ready to party hard,” she replied with a grin.

“Without drinking too much, I hope.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m counting on you to take care of me.”

“Ha ha. You’re so funny.”

“John will take care of me, then,” giggled Lily. “Right, John?”

He cocked his head. “I’m not looking forward to being hexed by Hugo,” he chuckled.

“What?”

“Never mind,” growled Hugo, glaring at him. “Let’s go and find Marie and the others.” He dragged her towards the group of people that was gathering around the entrance to the stadium. She could see Julia and Maggie chatting animatedly with two other guys, one of them was the other John. Marie was still inside, probably beautifying herself for the evening. Suddenly, Lily thought that she could have spent a few more minutes on her outfit, or that she could have worn _the_ dress, or any dress, at all. How silly of her to go for leggings and a t-shirt.

“Lily,” said Julia, snatching her away from Hugo. “You look so cute.”

“Yes,” gushed Maggie. “Like a doll.”

“Thank you. You look super nice, too. I don’t even know how you do it after your trainings. I’d look like a Blast-Ended Skrewt.”

The girls giggled and thanked her, assuring her that she wouldn’t do with the right spells.

“So,” said Julia, “did Hugo tell you the programme for tonight?”

Lily furrowed her brow. “Aren’t we having dinner at the Black Cat and then doing another pub crawl?” she asked back.

“Oh, more or less,” giggled Maggie.

“Marie just changed her mind about the pub crawl…”

“And she decides for everybody?” asked McLaggen with a little snort.

Julia shrugged a shoulder. “She was the one who proposed the pub crawl in the first place,” she replied. “If she doesn’t want to go anymore, it’s only fair that we listen to what she wants to do.”

“And what would that be?” asked John.

“I thought,” announced Marie, finally walking out of the stadium and looking brilliant in a lacy dress, “that we could all Apparate to Lyme Regis. There’s a little pub by the beach, and they open it in the summer and put the music on and it’s nice. And we can have dinner on the beach, light a bonfire, and drink there.”

There were murmurs through the crowd of young players, probably they were wondering if that was a good or a bad idea. They seemed to think it wasn’t a bad idea at all, because many of them were nodding and looking interested.

Lily wasn’t. She was more interested in the pub crawl; she had already participated to a party on the beach that summer and it hadn’t ended too well. “I thought we were going to do the pub crawl,” she said with a pout in her voice. “I was looking forward to it.”

“We can do that next week,” replied Marie with a smile that seemed just a little bit forced. “If you want to come with us again.”

“I can’t,” she said. “I’m organising a baby-shower for my cousin’s child.”

There was laughter, and Lily blushed furiously at their mocking. It was only when she looked at Marie that she noticed that they weren’t mocking her.

“You already have a child, Hugo?” Julia was giggling.

“You never told us!” laughed John.

Hugo didn’t seem too impressed with their banter. “There’s thirteen of us, thank you very much,” he grunted. “She’s talking about Victoire.”

“The Veela?” asked McLaggen. “She had a baby? With Teddy?”

Hugo nodded. “They’ve been married for the past two years, it was well overdue.”

“He’s precious,” said Lily. “They called him Remus like Teddy’s father, and he is a Metamorphmagus like Teddy. He’s the cutest! He changes his features without even noticing and his hair changes colour continuously.”

“Aww,” gushed Julia. “He must really be cute.”

“I wish I had a picture to show you. He’s so adorable,” grinned Lily.

“Yes, he is,” said Hugo, a small smile painting on his face.

“Great,” said McLaggen, sounding less than interested in taking part in the gushing. “So, shall we vote? I vote for the pub crawl.”

“Me too,” said Lily.

“And me,” said Hugo.

Marie looked seriously at him. “I thought you liked the beach, Hugo,” she said, walking up to him. “I mean, you said you had fun in Penzance.”

“I had fun because I was with Lily,” he replied calmly.

There were whistles and giggles and Lily felt herself blush to the root of her hair. She smiled at Hugo though, and saw that he was smiling back at her, up until the moment when Marie threw her arms around his waist and looked up at him almost adoringly.

“But I’m sure you’d have fun with me, too,” she purred. “Maybe even more fun.” She winked at him, and Lily had to look away from the scene.

Hugo smiled weakly at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I guess,” he said softly.

Behind Hugo and Marie, McLaggen pretended to gag at the scene and she was glad she had an excuse to turn away and giggle.

“Okay, the beach it is,” said Marie, turning to glare daggers at McLaggen. “Come on, it’s going to be romantic and fun.” She slid her hand into Hugo’s and whispered, “I’ll Apparate you there. Hold on tight.”

“What? No. Lily—”

“Julia knows where it is,” Marie assured him, and then they were gone.

Lily couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the scene. Honestly, if Hugo and Marie got together after the trials she would have to move out of the flat. It was either that or witness such disgusting scenes all day long, probably.

“It’s fine, I’ll Apparate her,” said McLaggen as he closed a hand over Lily’s upper arm.

She turned just in time to see Maggie cock an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure you know the place?”

“Yeah, I’ve been there already, thank you for your concern,” he replied rather brusquely.

Lily looked from him to Maggie who glared at him and went to grab someone else’s arm to Disapparate. Julia did the same and soon they were the last two left behind.

“Can I just say,” started Lily slowly, “that I have a feeling that your relationship with your fellow players is going down the drain?”

He snorted at that. “You don’t say,” he grunted before looking at her. “Hugo never tells you anything of what happens here, right? He never knows anything anyway, what with him going to have his private picnics near the river and waiting for you, day after day.”

“He waits for me?” she asked breathily. Oh God! Where did that tone of voice come from? She needed to get a grip on herself!

McLaggen looked at her, his blue eyes wide and focused on her face as if he wanted to read even the smallest of emotions. “You love him, don’t you?”

“What?” she almost gasped out, wriggling free from his hand and taking a step back. “I don’t know how you can even conceive to say something like that!” She turned away from him and tried to fan her face to a normal temperature. “He is my cousin,” she added sourly.

“So?”

She shook her head, still not looking at him. “I don’t want to hear these things, thank you. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Marie is jealous to the point that she might do something crazy, you know,” he went on. “Hugo keeps talking about you; I think I’ve already told you that. When they sit together, and she tries to make some conversation all he says is ‘Lily, Lily, Lily’ and she’s always fuming afterwards.”

She swallowed. “We live together. It’s only natural to talk about the person you spend all your time with.”

“I heard her talking to Julia and Maggie the other day. She said that she liked you at first, and that she had thought that becoming your friend would have brought her closer to Hugo. But now you’re like a rival, you know. Someone to _destroy_. Whatever she meant with that. Because—and I quote— _it’s as clear as day that Hugo is in love with you_.”

“Oh God! Shut up!” Could her cheeks become even hotter?

“Her words, not mine.”

“God, John! Shut up!” She took a deep breath and tried to change the subject. “And anyway, do you eavesdrop all conversations, or do you select only the most interesting ones?” asked Lily, glancing askew at him.

“You’re not worried?” he asked back. “I’m worried for you.”

“You’re just jealous because you like Marie,” she pointed out, “and you’d like for her to be with you, instead of crushing over Hugo.”

“I think I already told you that I’m not jealous. She’s a twofaced bitch, that’s all.”

“You’re being harsh,” she replied weakly. She really wanted to say those things too, though, and it felt so good to hear someone else saying them as well.

“Maybe, but you’re the only one I can tell these things to,” he said calmly. “I obviously can’t talk to her entourage, and Hugo is deaf when I want to point out the obvious.”

“I think Hugo likes her a great deal,” whispered Lily, her voice throaty.

“He doesn’t,” he assured her. “He’s just too nice to tell her to leave him alone.”

“He wants to get together with her after the trials,” she insisted. “He told me.” He hadn’t really, she had said it, but he had agreed.

McLaggen cocked an eyebrow. “I hardly believe it.” He took a deep breath. “He likes you.”

She shook her head forcefully. “You’re out of your mind.” She shifted her feet on the grass. “He’s my cousin.”

“So? I can’t really see a problem there.”

Lily looked at him, eyes wide and mouth equally wide. “Let’s go to the beach,” she muttered. “I don’t want to talk about these things.”

He stepped towards her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “That’s when you know that you like him too,” he whispered.

Then they were gone and the next thing she knew was that Hugo was snapping at McLaggen that they had taken long enough, and that he was about to come looking for them.

“Let’s go,” growled Hugo, as he dragged her towards a small pub.

“Wait—” But he cut short any protestations she had by pushing a hot piece of fish and chips rolled up in a newspaper into one of her hands, and a Butterbeer in the other one.

“Here,” he grunted. “Let’s go and find a place where to sit.”

“I’m sitting with John,” she said firmly. “Since you seem busy with Marie, at least I know him and I can talk to him.”

His shoulders hunched slightly. “I’m not busy with Marie—”

“Hugo! I’ve kept you a spot near the fire!” called Marie, waving a hand to attract his attention.

“Let’s go,” mumbled Hugo, glancing at Marie.

“She’s kept _you_ a spot,” pointed out Lily. “I’ll see you later, okay?” She didn’t even look at him as she joined McLaggen again and asked him to sit somewhere where they couldn’t see Hugo and Marie.

McLaggen seemed to agree and he guided her to a corner where they could sit on some rocks and enjoy their fish and chips without being disturbed. They ate in silence and sipped their Butterbeers quietly while the people around them laughed and challenged each other to dip into the water with their clothes.

Lily stared as Maggie and a young man disappeared for a long while behind some tall rocks.

“So,” she finally said, “tell me the truth. You like Marie, don’t you?”

McLaggen cocked an eyebrow in disbelief, but it lasted only a minute, then he sighed and looked down at his feet. “I think she’s hot,” he replied. “Everybody does. And probably her beauty blinded me a little at the beginning. That and the fact that I didn’t know her that well.” He took a sip of Butterbeer. “But I don’t like her anymore, not after what she did anyway…”

“What did she do?”

He seemed to flush as he looked away. “I asked her out and she said yes,” he muttered. “We actually came here, you know? And it was nice. I bought her dinner, and then we snogged—”

“Don’t need to know.”

“And we even sat on the beach to look at the stars and did all those corny things that people do at first dates,” he went on. “And I thought it went well.”

“And it didn’t?”

“Apparently not for her,” he said sourly. “The next day she was telling Maggie and Julia that she had the worst first date ever. And they were laughing at the horrific tale that she was telling them.” He looked at Lily. “Lies, she was telling lies. Things like I had gigantic bogeys up my nose or that my breath smelled of garlic when she kissed me. Or that I kept scratching my balls so I surely had to have some sort of rash right there…”

“Merlin! She’s horrible!” gasped Lily.

He nodded. “And when I confronted her about those things, you know what she said? She said that she only went out with me because she pitied me. And that she had snogged Hugo, too, and he was the one she wanted.”

Lily rolled her eyes. What a horrible human being. “And what did you tell her?”

“The truth, that Hugo likes you and that—”

“Oh God! What’s wrong with you?” she muttered. “Is that why she doesn’t like me? Because you told her that Hugo likes me?”

“She had already gotten there by herself, don’t worry,” he replied calmly. “Like everybody else on this earth, except for you, Lily.”

Lily raised her hands over her head. “I really don’t want to talk about this rubbish, John,” she snapped. “Hugo is my best-friend, my flatmate, my cousin. Honestly, he doesn’t like me that way, and I don’t like him that way either. We’re just… we’re just very close, that’s all.”

“You like him,” he insisted, his voice still calm. “And he likes you. Shall we go there and ask him?” He made to stand up and Lily’s hand closed instinctively around his wrist.

“Don’t you dare!” she said agitatedly. “You’re a complete idiot, McLaggen.”

“I’m just stating the truth—hey! Where are you going?”

“Anywhere where you’re not there!” she snapped, walking away with her empty bottle of Butterbeer. She needed something else to drink. Something strong that would make her forget all those things that gave her stomach a twist. Hugo liked Marie. Or some other girl that he said he liked last time they talked. Anyway, there wasn’t much that Lily could do. Or that she should do. He was her best-friend, and that had to be enough for her.

She strode towards the pub, throwing the empty bottle away into a rubbish bin out there. “A Firewhisky,” she said darkly to the barkeeper. “And make it double.”

The man cocked an eyebrow at her and asked for her hand. She rolled her eyes, but complied, used to such a treatment. He touched his wand to her palm and when he was convinced that there was no Trace anywhere around her, he let her go and pushed a double Firewhisky towards her.

She downed it quickly, loving the gentle warmth that spread through her limbs almost instantaneously. She ordered another one and glanced over her shoulder at the bonfire and the people dancing and drinking around it. Even McLaggen was laughing and talking to some guy that Lily couldn’t quite recognise in the dark of the night.

Hugo and Marie were nowhere to be found, but Lily didn’t really want to know what they were doing and where. Her second Firewhisky arrived and she downed it just as quickly as the first. She felt much better with a bit of alcohol warming her up and making her forget all about McLaggen’s words.

“Oh my word,” exclaimed Julia as she came to stand to Lily’s right. “You’re not drinking all alone, are you?”

Lily looked at her. “I just got a drink,” she mumbled. “But everybody seems so busy having fun…”

“You need to come and have fun with us too, then,” insisted Maggie, and only then Lily noticed that the girl was standing behind her. “Come on, we do have our own booze too, you know? No need to spend money at the pub.”

Julia grabbed Lily’s hand and dragged her away and back towards the bonfire. “What do you want? Firewhisky? Tequila? Rum?” She gestured towards some bottles that had been driven into the sand.

“You’ve got a lot of stuff,” said Lily as they all sat on a rock near the sea.

“We always come prepared,” giggled Maggie. “Tequila? We also have lemon and salt.”

She was passed the saltshaker and a slice of lemon before she could even agree or disagree. But probably they remembered that she had enjoyed it last time, and she was really looking forward to drinking some now as well.

“Here,” said Julia, passing her the bottle.

“Don’t you have glasses?” asked Lily, wrinkling her nose.

Maggie laughed as she took the bottle from her hands. “No,” she said before licking the salt from her hand, taking a gulp of tequila, and finally suckling on the lemon. She grinned and passed the bottle back at Lily, who shrugged and copied her, taking a nice, long gulp of tequila.

Maggie and Julia laughed heartily as she hurried to suckle on the lemon to clean her mouth from the sting of the alcohol.

“So,” said Maggie, giving her a playful shove with her shoulder. “You and McLaggen seem awfully close…” She glanced over Lily’s head, probably at Julia, and grinned. “Isn’t Hugo jealous?”

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but Julia beat her. “He looks like he’s too busy with Marie to worry about that, though,” she giggled. “They’re really hitting it off, aren’t they?”

Lily had to do her best to swallow the heated retort that was bubbling up to her lips. Instead, she made an effort to pretend that she was agreeing with the two of them. “Yes, they are,” she giggled, her voice just a little bit slurred. “They’re adorable, aren’t they?”

She was glad to see that Maggie and Julia were looking at her with a surprised expression over their faces.

Julia placed the bottle of tequila on the sand between her feet. “So you’re not jealous?” she asked slowly.

“Should I be?” asked Lily back in her most perfect imitation of a surprised tone.

Maggie shrugged a shoulder. “We thought… that you and Hugo…”

“Just because of the things he says…”

“Really? What does he say?” asked Lily nonchalantly.

Julia and Maggie exchanged another glance, as if to make sure that they both had heard the same things from Hugo, that they had not imagined things. They seemed to agree that there was something to say and Lily tried to focus on their words through the slight haze of the alcohol.

“It’s just that sometimes he talks about you—”

“He talks about her all the time,” pointed out Julia.

Maggie nodded. “And he says things like, ‘Oh, my arm is all stiff this morning, cause Lily slept on it all night,’ and stuff…” She looked at Lily. “Like, you know… as if the two of you were sleeping together or something…”

Lily felt her heart skip a beat. How to reply to _that_? Hugo was an idiot. Why would he say those things to them? She hadn’t said anything of what went on in their flat to anybody at all, not even Rose – oh God! Especially not Rose! – or any of her friends. Why would he be so careless? Probably because he thought that there was nothing to hide.

She snatched the bottle of tequila from between Julia’s feet and took a long gulp without even bothering with salt and lemon. She probably looked guilty since she was clearly delaying her answer, but she didn’t care.

“All night?” she laughed, her voice hoarse with alcohol as she placed the bottle at her own feet. “What a drama queen! It was probably a couple of hours on the sofa! That knob.” She laughed so loudly that Julia and Maggie had to join her and they all took more sips from the bottle, laughing even louder afterwards.

“But you like him, though,” said Julia and now her voice was a bit slurred, too. “Everybody likes him…”

“Yeah, and you said he was fit, remember?”

Lily nodded seriously. “He is so fit,” she agreed, hiccupping slightly. “Fit to kill, right? All the girls like him. My cousins say that he’s fit, too. Everybody thinks he’s fit. I think even McLaggen thinks he’s fit… Fit, fit, fit, fit…”

They all giggled and Lily grabbed the bottle again, bringing it to her lips. Before she could take the umpteenth gulp, though, someone snatched it from her hands.

“You’re drinking tequila?” thundered Hugo from somewhere in front of her. His face dark in the shadows of the night.

“Not now,” she giggled. “Because you stole our bottle.” She stretched her hand to ask for it back, but he raised it out of her reach.

“Oh come on!” giggled Julia. “We’re having fun.”

“Yeah!” protested Maggie. “You’re having fun with Marie, and we’re having fun with our dear friend, Tequila.”

Lily stood, and found out that she was suddenly very unstable on her legs. She took a step towards the bottle and Hugo had to catch her before she fell over.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to get wasted,” he said harshly.

She giggled and tried to reach the bottle again, but he was too tall for her. “I have to drink to forget,” she slurred.

“What do you have to forget?” he growled. “I thought we were supposed to spend a nice evening without—”

“Oh, sod off,” she scoffed suddenly, pushing on his chest to try to get away from him. She didn’t succeed. “You ran off to sit with Marie and left me—”

“You disappeared to sit with McLaggen,” he spat. “And lower your voice, will you? You’re drunk.”

She pushed on his chest again, but he didn’t let her go. “I’m not going to lower my voice,” she slurred. “You tell your friends that we sleep together. Why should I lower my voice?”

His blue eyes widened. “Whoa! What? I’ve never said anything like that!” He glanced over her head to Maggie and Julia who were busy nursing another bottle.

As he focused on telling the girls off, Lily leant her head against his chest and closed her eyes, letting Hugo support her. She was tired and her eyelids were heavy and getting heavier.

Hugo was snarling something at the girls, now, but Lily just let the movements of his chest rock her back and forth. It was so pleasant. His fingers closed on her upper arm more forcefully every time he raised his voice, but the girls just kept on laughing and giggling and drinking.

“Oh there you are,” said Marie suddenly. “Oh man! Is she drunk already?”

Lily was drunk, but not wasted enough not to recognise the amusement in Marie’s voice.

“I’ll take her to the loo,” she offered. “Before she throws up on your shirt.”

Lily tried to wrap her arms tightly around Hugo’s torso, and for a moment she hoped that he told Marie to get lost and let Lily stay with him. Instead, she heard the smack of a kiss and then she was dragged away from Hugo.

Marie wasn’t gentle when she guided her through the crowd of people, and Lily bumped into a doorframe and straight into two young men who laughed at her dazed expression.

When they walked into the dimly lit loo, Marie finally let her hand go and turned to look at Lily with a bright smile over her face. “Listen,” she said sweetly. “I honestly thought it was clear by now.”

Lily leant against a sink and scrunched up her eyes, trying to focus on what the other girl was saying.

“I like Hugo,” went on Marie. “Really like him. And he likes me back, you know. And we definitely don’t need his little cousin to keep on disrupting our encounters whenever she’s around just because she’s jealous.”

“She?” asked Lily, cocking her head.

“You, you! I’m talking about you, okay?” she snapped. “Listen, he doesn’t like you. No matter what you think, what McLaggen thinks—he’s out of his mind that one—and what everybody else thinks. I talked to him and he assured me that I’m the only one for him, okay?”

“I don’t—”

“You don’t understand?” scoffed Marie. “Let’s put it this way, we’ve done everything that couples do, okay?”

Lily felt her heart skip a beat. She shook her head to clear it, but it only dangled from side to side on her neck, making her nauseous. “You’re lying,” she muttered as steadily as possible. “He would tell me if he’d… If he…”

“Oh God,” sighed Marie. “Why would he tell you? He knows you’re a little deranged creature who would suffer to know that he has a life outside that flat you share with him.” She offered her a cold smile. “He’s too nice.”

The loo was spinning around Lily, but she wasn’t sure it was the alcohol anymore. She felt sick though, but when she turned towards the sink to throw up, Marie wasn’t helping her. She was laughing amusedly.

“You’re so pathetic,” she giggled. “Come on, and you think someone like Hugo would like someone like you?”

Lily turned on the water and cleaned her mouth, and then she sprayed her face and neck, for she felt warm and sticky and disgusting.

“Here,” said Marie, her tone suddenly gentle. “A Sobering Potion.”

Lily turned to look at her and then at the phial she was holding in front of her face. “I’m fine,” she slurred.

“Please, do you really want to embarrass yourself even further? Especially in front of Hugo?”

Lily darkened as she grabbed the phial and uncorked it. She sluggishly brought it to her mouth, and downed it quickly.

“Better?” asked Marie, the same amusement was still there in her cold voice.

Lily tried to straighten her back, but found out that she couldn’t. “Not yet,” she said, her voice still slurred.

Somehow, Marie giggled. “Let’s go out and find your cousin, shall we?”

She wanted to say no, that she was going to Apparate home right at that moment. But she couldn’t. The Sobering Potion was taking long to work and, instead of feeling better, she felt drowsier and drowsier with every step she took. She leant against Marie’s side and the girl wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a perfect imitation of a good friend.

“Hugo…” babbled Lily, her eyes heavy.

She heard Marie let out a tsk sound. “You really don’t understand that he doesn’t want you, do you?”

“Hugo,” she repeated, feeling the tears coming up to sting her eyes at the harsh words of the other girl.

“Hugo! Hugo!” called Marie with a giggle. “She wants you.”

“Oh God.” Hugo’s voice was worried, and Lily was happy to know that he was worried about her. “Lily. Lily! Are you okay?”

She stretched her arms forward and he caught her, squeezing her to his chest.

“What happened? Are you crying? Are you feeling sick?”

She finally closed her eyes, leaning completely against him.

“Lily. Talk to me. Lily!”

She opened her mouth to babble, “I love you.”

“What?” he said. “What? Lily, are you okay?”

“I love you,” she repeated. “No. I’m in love with you. I’ve always been. I want you. I want you so much it hurts. I want you to kiss me… I want to be with you… I want… I want…”

“What? I don’t understand,” he said, panic in his voice. “Lily? Lily!”

She felt like she was slowly lowered to the ground and there was laughter and murmurs all around her. And Hugo, Hugo was so close, so close she could feel his hands everywhere.

“Lily!” he cried. “She’s not breathing! Lily! Lily…”

And then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! Lily finally confessed her feelings to Hugo! Excuse me, what? You wanted Hugo to be able to understand her when she did? Well, you had to specify that! :P Sorry, guys! Mean cliffhanger is mean... Love you all to bits!! *g*


	27. Chapter 27

***

When Lily woke up, she was surprised to notice that it was still dark. She wondered what time it was, and how long she had slept for. She usually never woke up when it was so early that it was still dark. Was it possible that she had overslept so much that it was night all over again? She didn’t know, but she closed her eyes and hugged the pillow under her head, sighing contently for she felt rested and happy like she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Hello, my love,” came a voice from the pillow next to her. “You gave us quite the heart attack.”

She opened her eyes wide, trying to distinguish her mother’s features in the light that came from the corridor. Why was her bedroom door open? Why was her mother sleeping there next her?

“Mum?” she asked, her voice throaty as if she hadn’t used it in a long time.

Her mother wormed closer to her and hugged her tightly to her chest, showering her head with kisses.

Lily let her and sighed at the nice feeling of being hold. “What happened?”

“A stupid, stupid prank from one of Hugo’s friends,” said Aunt Hermione bitterly from somewhere near the bed. “Marie said that she gave you a phial of the Draught of Living Death.”

“You scared Hugo to death,” said her mother. “He Apparated you to St Mungo’s before Marie could even explain what she did. In front of a group of Muggles. Your dad had to take care of them.”

“Dominique said he was in shock,” said Aunt Hermione. “He really thought you were dead. She had to reassure him for a good half an hour. He was crying and he didn’t even notice he had Splinched himself as he Apparated.”

“He Splinched himself?” gasped Lily, turning to look at her. “Is he alright?”

Aunt Hermione nodded gently. “Good as new,” she replied, “but he scared Dominique for a moment. He kept babbling that you were dead, that you couldn’t breathe.”

“Oh God,” groaned Lily. “I should have never accepted that phial. Marie said it was a Sobering Potion, but I should’ve known better.” She shook her head and let her mother cradle her in her arms. “What time is it?”

“Almost nine,” replied her mother, “of Sunday evening.”

“Sunday?” she gasped, bolting up to a sitting position. “But it was… it was Friday a moment ago!”

Her mother nodded. “They gave you an antidote, but the effects of the potion are slow to disappear. Especially on someone as small as you are.”

Lily hid her face in her hands. “Oh God! I had a date with Derek last night!”

“Don’t worry, Hugo told him that you weren’t feeling well,” said Aunt Hermione. “He even came to see you this afternoon. He stayed for a good two hours and brought you flowers.”

Lily looked at her aunt. “And he stayed here for two hours? Doing what?”

“He talked to Hugo,” replied her mother, sitting up as well, “and to us. He’s a very sweet young man.”

“He is,” she said weakly, nodding. “Where’s Hugo?”

“We put him to bed,” said Aunt Hermione. “He stayed up all night the past two days, just to look after you.”

Lily stretched her arms over her head. “I feel so rested though,” she said with a smile, “that I can’t exactly feel angry at Marie at this very moment.” Her stomach protested loudly, though, and she noticed that she was literally starving.

“Are you hungry?” asked her mother, standing up. “Grandma brought you a basket full of food. Why don’t you take a shower while Auntie Hermione and I prepare you something to eat?”

Lily grinned at her. “Sounds like a great idea,” she admitted.

Aunt Hermione nodded gently. “What would you like? There’s turkey, ham, cheese, potatoes, roast beef…”

“You had all these things? I missed a great Sunday dinner then,” she groaned.

“Oh no, those are just for you,” said her mother. “We had sandwiches for lunch. Grandma was too busy cooking for her poor sleeping granddaughter.”

“And for Hugo, who stayed here all day,” said Aunt Hermione.

“I’ll have pretty much everything,” she said, nodding happily, “but I’m really in dire need of a shower first.” She smelled her t-shirt, the same one she had been wearing at the beach, and grimaced. She smelled of sweat and alcohol.

“Yes, yes,” said her mother. “You take your shower, and then come to the kitchen when you’re ready.”

She nodded, blindly grabbed a pair of shorts and a clean t-shirt and made her way to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, basking in the nice, warm spray of the water. She washed herself thoroughly, and then used magic to dry herself and wear her clean clothes.

When she walked out of the bathroom, a delicious smell of turkey and roasted potatoes wafted to her nostrils. Her stomach rumbled insistently once more, but she ignored it in favour of going to see Hugo.

She swallowed nervously as she pushed his door open and tiptoed to his bed. He was lying on his back, his chest raising and lowering softly with his regular breathing. She didn’t want to wake him up, but she couldn’t resist sitting next to him and tucking some of his longer curls behind his ears.

He looked tired; his face was so pale that even in the dark of the room she could make out his freckles. She smiled softly at him and traced the lines on his forehead – proofs of how much he had worried in the past few days – with her fingers.

He started awake and his fingers went to close around her wrist. His blue eyes opened wide and he looked up at her for a few seconds with the face of someone who had just seen a ghost.

Lily smiled sheepishly, but before she could apologise for having waken him up, he rolled towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist. And before she could even understand what was going on, he was crying with his head in her lap.

Lily’s hands hovered over his head as she gasped softly at the loud sobs. He pushed himself closer to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he wetted her t-shirt with his warm tears.

She finally placed her hands on his curls, caressing his head gently. She hadn’t seen him cry in… She couldn’t even remember when she last saw him cry. A decade ago probably. They were still kids and there definitely was a broken ankle after a nasty fall from a tree involved. Yes, Lily was quite sure that that was the last time she had seen him cry.

“Hey,” she whispered. “Everything’s fine.”

He sniffled loudly. “I thought you were dead,” he sobbed. “I really thought you were dead.” He squeezed her as if he was afraid to let her go.

“I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly.

He shook his head before letting her go and sitting up on his bed. His face was wet with tears and Lily felt the urge to kiss them away. Instead, he was the one who cupped her cheeks and kissed her. Her forehead, her cheeks, her eyes, everywhere. Even the corner of her lips, and she responded to them, trying to reach his face with her own kisses.

“I thought you were dead,” he repeated. “I went to see Marie yesterday, and we had a row. I told her to stay away from me and from you. She said it was just a prank, but I didn’t like it. I don’t want her anywhere near you. Ever again.”

“You’re being over dramatic,” she said with a weak smile over her lips. “It was just a prank.” Oh God! She so wanted to agree to everything he said, but he was still in shock, and Lily had to calm him down, not fuel his rage.

But she _so_ wanted to agree out loud to everything he said. She still remembered Marie’s words. Marie said that she liked Hugo and Hugo liked her back. Did he still like her now? They had a row and Lily couldn’t help smiling at that thought. Was she an evil hag? Probably. Not that she cared particularly at that moment, though.

Hugo stopped his kisses in favour of shaking his head at her comments. “I felt you die in my arms,” he said seriously. “You didn’t, but I thought you did. You stopped breathing, and I tried to reanimate you, but you were gone.” He sniffled again. “I brought you to St Mungo’s and did magic in front of a group of Muggles. I wasn’t thinking, I just wasn’t. All I could think about was you, that you were gone and it was all my fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said softly.

“Yes, it was, I should have never… never… never…”

“Shh,” she quietened him. “It’s alright. I’m fine, you’re fine—actually, are you fine? How’s your arm?”

He let her face go and shrugged a shoulder. “Fine,” he replied nonchalantly. “Dominique is the best Healer. She came to check on us yesterday and today, too.”

“You won’t have problems playing, will you?”

He shook his head and looked away from her. “I don’t want to play with those people anymore,” he growled. “I want to leave the Puddlemere Summer Camp.”

Lily gasped loudly. “What?” She was the one to cup his cheeks now, to make him look at her. “You’re not serious.”

His shoulders slumped forward. “I never told anybody that we were sleeping together,” he said suddenly. “I swear.” 

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I just said that you slept on my arm, just once, and it just was because it slipped me… I was… I was just happy… but I never told anyone that we had sex,” he muttered. “I promise, Lily. I don’t kiss and tell, I swear.”

“Shh. Our mothers are in the kitchen,” she whispered. She offered him a tiny smile and slid her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “I know. Don’t worry.” She leant her head on his shoulder. “Promise me you won’t leave the Camp.”

He took some time to reply as if considering his answer meticulously. “I promise,” he finally sighed. “I’ll grit my teeth through the next two weeks and will do my best to get picked, but I don’t promise that I won’t hex someone.” He paused for a second. “Man or woman.”

“Hugo,” she giggled. “Don’t. You’re a bigger person than them.” She raised her head and looked up at him. “She was just trying to be funny, I guess…” She suddenly felt incredibly mature for trying to justify Marie’s behaviour.

He pushed his nose into her hair. “I love you so much.”

“I love you back.”

He hummed contently and rubbed his hands all over her back.

“Are you hungry? My mum and your mum are preparing me some sort of dinner,” she said. “I’m starving.”

“I’m not,” he replied, “but I’ll keep you company. How about that?”

She nodded as she finally stood up.

“Even though, my mother will jump at the occasion to give me another roasting,” he sighed as they walked into the corridor.

“A roasting for what?”

“The kind of friends that he chooses to hang out with,” replied Aunt Hermione from down the corridor. “Even though this time I can’t really blame him, this Marie seemed rather fine when I met her.”

***

Lily didn’t sleep at all that night. She had slept for two whole days; therefore, she couldn’t close her eyes even if she tried. She sat on the floor of the living room, with Rufus in her lap, and replied to letter after letter. Hugo slept on the sofa until she poked him in the ribs and commanded him to go to bed. She was fine: he didn’t have to worry about her anymore.

He sat up, looking at her with an indulgent smile and then lowered his head to kiss her goodnight on her neck, and she ruffled up his curls affectionately.

The following morning she made him a cooked breakfast for the first time ever, and when he walked into the kitchen, he was more than a little surprised to find her still there.

He rubbed his eyes forcefully. “You really didn’t sleep,” he drawled.

“I really couldn’t,” she replied calmly. “I’m completely and utterly rested.”

He smiled lazily as he sat at the table. “And you really made me breakfast,” he said, staring at the bacon and eggs that she was dishing out.

“You sound surprised,” she said calmly. “Only because this is the first time I’ve made you breakfast.”

He looked up at her. “I’m surprised because I seriously thought that you were angry with me,” he admitted.

She placed the dirty pans into the sink and furrowed her brow as she turned to look at him. “It was not your fault, Hugo,” she said calmly. “Why on earth would I be angry with you?”

“No, I know,” he hurried to say. “It’s just that… maybe you don’t remember, but we had a little fight on Friday night. I… I told you not to drink and you got mad and—”

“Did you sleep with Marie?” she asked suddenly, looking into his eyes. “I’m not angry, but just answer that.”

His eyes widened for a moment. “No,” he said. “No! Why would you think something like that? I don’t… I don’t sleep with someone I’m not involved with.”

She sat down in front of him, smiled, and nodded to the plate she had prepared for him, he didn’t even look at it.

“Why are you asking me?” he insisted.

She shrugged a shoulder. “Marie assured me you two had done everything that couples do,” she replied calmly.

“Oh God! I’m going to shove her off her broom today,” he gritted through his teeth.

Lily shook her head. “She’s in love with you.”

“Well, I’m not in love with her,” he grunted.

God! How much she loved when he said that! Suddenly she felt as if her heart had to make up for all the times that it had skipped a beat on Friday night. She swallowed her satisfied smile, though. “That’s not what she said.”

“She’s a liar!” he snapped. “I don’t… I don’t even like her.”

Now the smile finally bubbled over her lips, and Lily had to shove a forkful of eggs into her mouth not to giggle happily.

“You were saying something,” he murmured suddenly.

She looked up at him, swallowing her eggs. “No, I wasn’t,” she replied, surprised.

He shook his head. “No, I mean, on Friday night before you… before you fell asleep, you were saying something, but I couldn’t quite catch it. Do you remember?”

She schooled her expression to be as neutral as she could. “No, I’m sorry,” she lied with a smile. “Probably it was just something about how sick I felt.” She nodded towards his plate. “Is it not good?” she asked. “Or aren’t you hungry?”

He looked at the plate too, and picked up his fork. He shook his head and brought a piece of bacon to his mouth. “It’s delicious, Lily, thank you.”

She winked at him and when he looked down again, she took a deep breath of relief for the fact that he hadn’t caught her babbled confession on Friday night.

***

Lily dropped off the letters to Mike and retrieved ten shiny new missives addressed to Lavender. She stuffed them in her bag and made her way to Derek’s office.

She knocked gently on his door and when he said, “Come in,” she pushed it open and stood there with a sheepish smile over her lips.

“I’m sorry I missed our date,” was the first thing that she said to him.

To her surprise, he put down his colours and strode towards her. “Oh my word,” he said, enveloping her in a hug. “Don’t even mention it. Are you alright? Oh, I was so worried.”

He let her go and she looked up at him, a soft smile stretching her lips as he stared at her with wide eyes.

“I’m fine, thank you,” she replied. “And thank you for the flowers; they’re gorgeous.”

He finally smiled back at her, reassured. “I’m glad to hear that you’re well,” he said. “But what an awful trick to play,” he added in a growl. “Why on earth would someone even do that?”

Lily shook her head. She knew perfectly well why, but there was no reason to tell him. “It wasn’t very fun, right?” she said instead. “Hugo got really scared.”

Derek nodded forcefully. “Yes, he told me,” he said. “God. It must have been awful for him to believe that you were dying in his arms. I don’t even want to think about it.”

She nodded thoughtfully. She would have gone completely mad with grief if it had been the other way round and she had thought that Hugo was dying in her arms.

“We have to reschedule our date,” she said, “and since I’m busy this weekend, I’d say we could see each other during the week? Maybe our painting session could last a bit less, since we both have to wake up early… But I mean, only if you still want to paint my portrait… If you’d rather—”

“Of course,” he assured her gently. “Of course I still want to paint your portrait. And a weekday sounds perfect, I would never finish in one sitting anyway, so I can draft it, then paint it, then finish it up. And every sitting won’t take too long.” He furrowed his brow a little. “How about Wednesday evening? Would you be free?”

She nodded softly. “Wednesday is perfect,” she said. “Shall I wear something in particular?”

“Whatever you want to be painted in,” he replied sensibly. “Even though you look good in anything you wear.”

“Oh shut up,” she said, blushing profusely and smiling brightly at the compliment. “Wednesday night,” she repeated. “Seven o’clock? Your flat?”

“Sounds perfect,” he said, nodding. “We’ll have something to eat while I paint you, is that okay?”

“Perfect.” She smiled and stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “See you on Wednesday then.”

“I can’t wait,” he replied as she walked out and grinned at him.

***

“Dad, I’m fine, I swear. Just let me go, please,” Lily pretended to complain, but smiled as her father squeezed her in a bone-crushing hug. “I can’t breathe, seriously, Dad.”

He sighed and finally let her go. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked for the umpteenth time. “Have you gone to St Mungo’s for a check-up?”

She shook her head. “Dominique said I’m fine, I just had to wait for the antidote to work,” she assured him. “To be honest, I think I was better than Hugo.”

Her father nodded seriously. “Hugo was in shock,” he said. “I’ve never seen him like that.”

“You came to the hospital?”

“Of course I did, Lily. We all did,” he said seriously. “Dominique Floo Called us, saying that you and Hugo were there, and we came straight away—with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. Luckily nothing bad had happened.” He took a deep breath and nodded seriously. “I went to talk to Miss Moffatt,” he went on, “and her parents. I told them that we consider her responsible not only for drugging another person without their knowledge, but also for breaking the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. And that she’ll be called to the MLE for an interrogation.”

“What? I thought Hugo was the one who Apparated in front of the Muggles.” She couldn’t help smiling, though. She was tempted to ask to be able to attend while her father and her brothers interrogated Marie.

“Yes, but he wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t thought that you were dying,” he pointed out. “Oh Merlin, I don’t even want to think what went through his head at that moment. It must have been horrible.”

She nodded, and then smiled slightly. “Dad, remember that I asked for your Invisibility Cloak and you said yes a couple of weeks ago?” Somehow, that felt like the perfect moment to bring this up again. “So that I could get into the changing rooms after Hugo’s trials to congratulate him…”

“Of course, of course,” he said seriously. “I have it here. Do you want it now?”

“If you don’t use it.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I’ll bring it back right after the trials, promise.”

“Of course, Lily,” he said, going to the old wooden wardrobe where he kept his files and spare Auror uniform. He opened it and took out the soft and perfectly folded cape. “There’s no hurry. I haven’t used it in quite a while, you know.” He turned and smiled at her. “James usually borrows it, when he has some lady friend to visit and he wants to impress her.” He shook his head, but smiled condescendingly.

Lily shook her head too. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t give him and Al up for adoption,” she giggled. “Wouldn’t it have been tenfold better with just your favourite child at home?”

“I don’t have a favourite child, Lily,” he said calmly. “But you’re certainly my favourite daughter.”

“Thank you, Dad. I’m also your only daughter,” she pointed out, taking the cloak from his hands. “But you and mum are coming to see Hugo’s trials, aren’t you?”

“Of course we are, I think everybody is,” said her dad. “When are those again?”

Lily had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. “Oh Dad! How can you not remember? Put it on your calendar! The first.”

“Of September? That’s only two weeks away.”

“I know, right? I’m so nervous,” she admitted. “I mean, I know he’ll get picked, but what if he doesn’t? What is he going to do? He loves Quidditch; he’s so good at it, too. What else can he do?”

“Lots of things, Lily,” her father said, cocking an eyebrow. “He could apply to become an Auror. I’m sure he would be a great addition to the squad.”

“Oh Dad,” she sighed. “Not everyone wants to be an Auror.”

“Have you asked him?”

“I can’t ask him what he wants to do if he isn’t picked for the team,” she pointed out. “He’d think that I don’t believe in him.”

“Right,” he said, nodding in agreement. “Anyway, Lily, I’m sure he’ll get picked. And if he doesn’t, he’s intelligent and full of resources, I’m sure he’ll find something else to do. Maybe… maybe he could become a Curse Breaker like Uncle Bill, or go to Romania with Uncle Charlie to work with dragons. Those are very active jobs, too. I think he would enjoy them immensely.”

“Dad! No!” protested Lily. “He can’t go to work abroad! That’s out of the question!”

Her father tilted his head and looked at her as if she was funny. “Why? He’s young, he doesn’t have any ties, he can go and live his life as he pleases. Working and living abroad is a great experience, after all. It broadens your mind and your horizons and it’s an interesting addition to any curriculum.”

“But I don’t want him to go,” she whined, just as a pouty child would do. “He can’t go. I don’t want it.”

Her father seemed surprised by her insistence, and she couldn’t really figure out why. How could he want Hugo to go abroad? Al and James could go and live in Australia if it pleases them, but not Hugo. Lily would miss him too much.

“Lily, you’re not his mother, nor his girlfriend,” he said calmly. “I think the decision would be his, don’t you think?”

She darkened, her fists closing around the cloak.

“Right, Lily?”

“Right,” she muttered. “I have to go, now, Dad. Lots of work to do and stuff. Thank you for the cloak though.”

He took a deep breath and enveloped her in a hug again before she could go to the door. “Don’t worry, Lily,” he said gently. “I don’t think Hugo has ever expressed the desire to go and work somewhere exotic and far away from home.”

She nodded softly. “Yeah,” she replied. “Thank you, Dad. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Of course. When are you coming to Grimmauld Place for dinner?”

“I don’t know. When are you and Mum going to invite me?” she asked with a giggle.

Her dad let her go and scolded her playfully. “You’re always invited.”

“I’ll let Hugo know and I’ll tell you when we’re free.”

“Good girl,” he said, nodding. “Now go and write and make Daddy proud.”

“Always, Dad,” she assured him, “always.”

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I have a really, really, really big problem. Okay, probably it isn’t that big, but I have a problem nonetheless: my boyfriend of three years wants me to talk dirty. Not always naturally, just during sex. Problem is: I really don’t think I can. No, screw that. I really can’t. I’ve tried, but the words won’t come out of my mouth. I just moan and groan all the way to my orgasm and that’s all._
> 
> _He talks dirty to me all the times and I have to admit that I love it. He calls me all sorts of names and tells me the dirtiest things, and I just get so wet and come so quickly that it’s a wonder I haven’t yet earned a one-way ticket to hell. Anyway, he says that he would love if I could talk dirty to him too, but I don’t know what to do to loosen up and finally manage to say something naughty._
> 
> _Please, please, please, help me get through this block and I’ll be forever and ever grateful._
> 
> _All my love,_
> 
> _Miss Goody Two-Shoes_

***

Lily managed to reply to most letters by herself. Some of them were really quite basic – _What kind of swimsuit you suggest for my first holiday with my boyfriend? Should I get a Muggle TV set? Is it really as useful as my flatmate claims? When is the next match between the Tornadoes and the Cannons?_ She sailed through them and was done well before dinnertime.

She only kept one letter for Hugo. The letter from Miss Goody Two-Shoes. She had no clue how to reply to that because the same exact “problem” – if it could be called a problem, it wasn’t for Lily, she was perfectly fine with moaning and groaning during sex – but it definitely wasn’t Hugo’s problem. No. Not at all.

She stretched her arms over her head and stood up from the sofa, almost stumbling over Rufus as she did.

“Hey,” she said, looking at the Kneazle who was lying belly up on the floor. “Shouldn’t you sleep somewhere where I don’t trip over you?”

He glanced at her and yawned, stretching his paws over his head with languid movements. Obviously, he didn’t think he should.

Lily grinned as she sat down on the floor next to him and started to rub his furry belly. “You’re tired, aren’t you?” she asked. “It’s because you were up all night with me, right? So basically it’s all Marie’s fault if you’re sleeping where you shouldn’t and I was about to trip over you, risking injuring both you and myself, right?”

Rufus closed his eyes slowly before opening them again. That was surely a yes.

“I knew it,” she muttered. “She’s a real bitch, isn’t she? You can’t even imagine what she told me on Friday night. Lies, lies and more lies. She said that she had sex with Hugo. Ah, she wishes! That hag! You know what? I should have told her that _I_ had sex with Hugo, she would have turned green with envy.”

Rufus stretched a paw to grab her fingers and brought them to his mouth, biting down with his minuscule teeth. Lily barely registered the feeling.

“I bet they haven’t even properly snogged, you know,” she went on. “Probably just a couple of kisses. Probably she forced kissed him on his neck when he was drunk. I mean, she said they snogged alright, but she was probably lying again. She’s a liar, isn’t she? She’s just jealous of the relationship I have with Hugo, and feels threatened. That’s why she’s become so mean to me.” She tried to raise her hand, but Rufus grabbed her more steadily. “McLaggen said that she said that when she was all nice it was because she just wanted to become friends with me to get closer to Hugo. Tale as old as time, right?”

Rufus let her go and jumped back before attacking her thigh with his not-so-mighty paws.

“Anyway, Hugo has finally convinced himself that she’s not as nice as he thought,” she continued. “Took him long enough, but he’s a trusty guy that one, there’s not much we can do about that…”

She grinned as Rufus climbed up on her lap. “You know what? We should celebrate that he’s finally seen the light,” she said. “How about we go out and get Chinese food for Mummy and Daddy? And for Rufus, too… I bet you’ll like the Kung Pao Chicken. We’ll ask for a small dish without chilly all for you. Does that sound good?”

Rufus planted his paws on her bosom and tried to lick her chin. She let him and his rough tongue tickled her.

“Alright, alright,” she giggled. “Get down.” She gently pushed him off her and he looked up at her with big eyes. “I’ll be just a minute, and then we can set the table and have a celebratory dinner.”

Rufus followed her all the way to her room and then all the way to the door, but she had to lock him into the flat, for she certainly couldn’t bring him all the way to the Chinese restaurant.

He looked at her with big eyes filled with sorrow for being left behind once more, and even if she assured him that she would be back in a matter of minutes, she made a mental note to swing by Magical Menagerie to look for a leash apt for a Kneazle.

In fact, that was her first stop, and she congratulated herself for her intelligence, since walking into a pet shop with bags filled with Chinese food would definitely cause quite the mayhem.

“A leash for a Kneazle?” asked the shop assistant, cocking an eyebrow over her lunettes for good measure. “Kneazles don’t need leashes.”

“But I want to take him for a walk,” she insisted, “and he’s still a kitten. I don’t want to lose him in the crowd.”

“Kneazles don’t get lost. They follow their owners like a Crup,” replied the shop assistant, wrinkling her nose probably at Lily’s ignorance of common Kneazle behaviour. “Leashes are for normal dogs or cats.”

“But he’s small,” she said, “and what if he gets scared? What if he jumps away and ends up in Knockturn Alley?”

The woman looked at Lily as if she was out of her mind. “You just keep him close to you and he will follow you and if he gets scared, he will jump into your arms or amongst your feet,” she replied. “That’s the only danger with little Kneazles, they usually make you trip because they look for contact with their owner.”

“Really?” she said, narrowing her eyes. “So, if he gets lost, I can come here and complain and you’ll refund me the cost of my Kneazle completely? And you’ll also pay compensation for my non-material damages?”

The woman folded her arms across her chest. “Yes,” she replied. “I am confident that you won’t lose your Kneazle, therefore in case you do, please do come and see us.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

“Good.” She glared pointedly at the woman and finally walked out of the shop, making her way to the Chinese Restaurant.

Mrs Chang smiled gently when she saw Lily, but it was probably due to the fact that Lily always ordered so much food that the woman could surely close the restaurant for a weekend and go on holiday to China afterwards, rather than because she was happy to see the daughter of her ex-boyfriend.

“Hello Lily, what can I do for you today?”

She grinned wide and ordered more than she usually did; convincing herself that there was no reason for not stocking their fridge with Chinese food. They both liked it, and they could have had a picnic near the river one of those days with those leftovers.

By the time she was walking back home she had to cast a Levitation Charm on her bags, because her arms started to hurt a few feet from her building. Probably, it was the fact that she was highly out of shape. She bet her wand Hugo wouldn’t have used a Levitation Charm. Probably he would have used the bags like weights and lifted them up and down all the way back to the flat. And the girls he had walked by would have swooned at his bulging muscles.

She rolled her eyes. Well, too bad for those girls but the only person walking by that evening was Lily Luna Potter, almost sweating in her shorts and shirt and with her hair constantly falling in her face.

She shook her head; she didn’t even know who she was talking about. There was almost nobody in Diagon Alley at that time of day, and those who walked past her were just hurrying back home to cook some dinner.

She hurried too, not because she was late, but because she had promised Rufus that she would be home soon and she was sure that Aunt Hermione had mentioned something about her own Kneazle ruining her furniture out of revenge when she had to work late for a week. She hoped he hadn’t done any damage just yet, but after all, he was so small, how could he anyway?

She didn’t have to worry, though, because the moment she opened her door and screamed a, “I’m home, Rufus!” she found herself almost falling into Hugo, who had apparently just arrived himself.

He smiled as he leant his broom against the wall. “You announce our Kneazle that you’re home?”

She nodded as she levitated the bags onto the kitchen table. “I promised him I’d be home soon, didn’t want him to start ruining our sofa in revenge.”

He chuckled. “He’s lounging on the sofa at this very moment, actually.” He nodded towards Rufus, who was busy cleaning himself in the usual clumsy way that all kittens did.

“Oh,” was all Lily could say before she looked back at Hugo. “I got Chinese food!” she announced triumphantly. “Lots of that, all our favourites. To celebrate.”

He cocked his head. “Celebrate what?”

She opened her mouth to reply, but closed it straight away. She couldn’t well tell him that they were celebrating the fact that he had finally opened his eyes about Marie. “Hmm… life?” she replied tentatively. “The fact that we’re both alive and well?”

His smile broadened into a grin. “Sounds good,” he said.

She took a deep breath, hoping that he didn’t notice her relief and asked, “How was your day? Everything good? You didn’t hex anybody, did you?”

He shook his head. “No, don’t worry,” he replied calmly. “My day was actually pretty good. We changed positions this afternoon, just for fun, and I got to play as a Chaser and discovered that I don’t completely stink.” He stretched his hands over his head and walked over to the kitchen table, peering inside the bags and sniffing their content. “And Marie said that she was genuinely sorry for slipping you the potion,” he added nonchalantly. “She wanted to invite you over to her house for dinner this weekend, as an apology.” He looked up at her smiled. “I thought it was nice of her.”

Lily felt her heart beating almost painfully in her chest; she tried to keep the blush away from her face and not to let her nostrils flare uncontrollably. “Nice,” she said sourly. “Incredibly nice. Alas, I can’t go, did you tell her that I have the baby-shower? Didn’t she remember when I told her on Friday night? Or was she too busy deciding how much potion I needed to be knocked out for the rest of the summer?”

Hugo bit his bottom lip, but she looked away from him and went straight to the sink to wash her hands before setting the table. “Go and take your shower, I’ll set the table and warm up some stuff and then—”

“You’re right,” he said calmly, “I’m sorry. I’ll tell her that you’re busy.”

“You forgot I have the baby-shower too,” she muttered.

“Yes, I was hoping we could have spent the whole weekend lazing about on the sofa,” he murmured, “just the two of us and our Kneazle.”

She liked the way he called Rufus “their” Kneazle, made her feel like they were a real family. “We can do that on Sunday,” she said, mollified. “All day on the sofa.”

“Except, we have to go to the Burrow, or Grandma will come here and start fussing over you like a mother hen.”

“That’s what she always does,” replied Lily calmly. “And she can come and join us on the sofa.”

He didn’t reply.

She finally washed her hands and dried them slowly on a tea towel, but before she could turn around, Hugo was moving away her hair from her neck. She stood still and he lowered his head to kiss her.

“I wouldn’t want Grandma to come here while we laze about on the sofa,” he murmured against her skin, kissing her again. “I just want to bask in the fact that you’re well and alive, and that you’re here with me.”

She closed her eyes and felt the butterflies that she had tried to keep at bay flutter their wings in her stomach.

“Next weekend,” she replied in a whisper. “Next weekend, I’ll be all yours. I’m going to keep myself free to spend some time with you.” She turned and looked up at him. “We’re going to relax before your trials.”

“All the weekend?” he asked softly.

She nodded. “And Monday.”

His lips stretched into a smile. “Just us? You’re not going out with Derek?”

She shook her head. “Just us,” she replied. “Until you’re sick and tired to have me around.”

“Never,” he said quickly. “We can go snorkelling if you want. Or we can go for a walk somewhere and have a picnic. We can even stay out for the night.”

She stood on tiptoes to hug his neck. “Sounds wonderful,” she whispered. “Now go and take a shower and be quick, because we’re having dinner in a bit.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied with a wink as she let him go. “I’m starving.”

“Good to know, because there’s lots to eat,” she said. “Go now, I’ll set the table.”

He smiled and nodded before disappearing into the corridor.

***

They ate so much that, once they finished, Lily’s head felt light and her belly heavy. She pushed the chair back a little and grimaced when Rufus jumped on her lap.

“I’m stuffed,” she said, her voice drowsy. “I just want to go to bed and sleep forever.”

“You could’ve done that the other day,” he reminded her with a smile. “Next time, shall we not feed you the antidote?”

She stuck out her tongue, but it was a good sign that he was joking about it. Jokes were their family’s way of getting over upsetting things. Therefore, she was happy he could joke about what had happened on Friday night.

“Then I wouldn’t be able to reply to my precious letters,” she pointed out. “Speaking of which…”

“You’ve got some letters you need help with?” he asked. “It feels like ages since you’ve asked me.”

She nodded. “Just one, and I’m sure you’re going to breeze through it,” she said, waving her wand to Summon the letter. “Here,” she said, handing it to him.

He took it and unfolded it before starting to read it with a focused expression over his face. Lily jumped at the occasion to Summon some of the Digestive Potion that her mother had brought her the night before, knowing that she would have stuffed her face more than once after three days of deprivation.

She drank it and felt immediately much lighter and much better.

“If I ask you why you think I’d breeze through this letter, you’re going to look at me like I’m an idiot, right?”

She cocked an eyebrow, without replying at all.

He nodded, closed his eyes and rubbed a hand all over his face. “I’ve got a dirty mouth, don’t I?” he asked, and Lily was surprised to see him blush. “Oh God. I’m such an idiot.”

“Why?” she grinned. “I think it’s sexy.”

He looked at her, disbelief on his face. “You do?” he asked softly.

She nodded, and only then she understood what she had said. She proceeded to blush herself, and looked away from Hugo. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “I mean… it’s really… you know…”

“Really?”

She took a deep breath. “Really sexy, I got… I got really wet when you said all those things to me,” she whispered. “You’re a natural.” She swallowed. “I would never be able to say all those things to… to the person I’m having sex with.” She looked at him, eyes wide. “Do you like a girl who talks dirty to you?”

He shook his head. “I like the noises that you make,” he confessed, his eyes boring into hers.

“Oh.” She swallowed again, but her mouth was suddenly very dry. “We’re beautifully matched then,” she murmured.

“I think we are.”

She started to rub Rufus’ head almost nervously. Her heart was suddenly beating in her throat and when she spoke, she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. “Yeah, so… do you think you can answer the letter for me? I’m a bit tired, what with being up since last night, you know…”

“Yes, no problem,” he said softly, nodding. “Go to bed and sleep tight.”

She stood up, squeezing Rufus to her chest. “You too,” she murmured, as she walked past him without looking at him.

She kept feeling the butterflies flutter about for most part of the night and when she fell asleep she dreamt of Hugo cuddling next to her and then she dreamt of him kissing her neck and her shoulder and her breasts. She woke up feeling all hot and bothered and had to push away all the sheets before she fell asleep again.  

***

> _Dear Miss Goody Two-Shoes,_
> 
> _I know that for some people dirty talk gives them a thrill, some are naturals at that, they don’t even notice they’re talking dirty to someone at all during sex. They just do it, and it excites both them and their partner. ~~Like me. I say the dirtiest things during sex but, weirdly enough, only to Lily. I’ve never said any of those things to anybody before her.~~_
> 
> _Some others don’t though, but you don’t have to worry, it’s not a problem at all. You can learn how to talk dirty during intercourse, and if you see that you really can’t or really dislike it, you don’t have to talk dirty at all. Just let your boyfriend know, I’m sure he’ll understand. ~~And if he doesn’t, he’s an idiot because girls can make the most beautiful sounds. Like Lily…~~_
> 
> _Talking dirty is all about using language that you find embarrassing or difficult to normally use to give yourself a thrill. The excitement is in the fact that it feels naughty. Therefore, a good start is to ask your boyfriend to tell you what he might like, or to describe what he is doing to you, and for him to lead the way._
> 
> _Then, simply try telling what the two of you are doing, but use basic language to do so – instead of saying, “Oh, it’s lovely to make love to you,” say, “I love….” …Well, what do you want to say you’re doing?_
> 
> _Hope this helps._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

Hugo’s reply was perfect. As always. Lily woke up to find it on the table and was in absolute awe at his insightful and reassuring comments on a subject such as _that_ one. She stuffed it in her bag with the others and went to the newsroom.

She only found five new letters and soon discovered that that was an omen of how uneventful her Tuesday would be. She went home, replied to them and slept most of the day. When Hugo came home, he cooked her dinner and they chatted for a while, until she mentioned that she had a date with Derek the following day, and that was when he suddenly fell silent.

They went to bed without many pleasantries and only then Lily remembered that she had forgotten to ask him how his day had gone, and what had Marie said about Lily not going to her house this weekend.

She had also forgotten to tell him that they had been invited to Grimmauld Place, and that she had gotten the cloak off her father. God! So many things to tell him and to think that they talked every day. How could she forget?

She slept badly that night, turning on the light continuously to write and update a list of things that she had to tell Hugo. Things that she would have forgotten, since they would have had to wait until Thursday – they wouldn’t have time to talk the following day, not with her going to Derek’s house.

Wednesday was equally quiet, she tried to organise lunch with Rose who had come home the previous weekend, but her cousin was too busy with work, and told her they could meet on Thursday, at the Leaky Cauldron. She accepted, she didn’t have any plans for lunch, even though she had planned to go to River Piddle for a picnic with Hugo at least once that week. There was still Friday, after all—oh, no. There wasn’t. She was busy with the baby-shower preparation on Friday.

Oh well, there was all the upcoming week and then the following one too. Of course, Hugo wouldn’t train the first two weeks of September, he only had the trials on Tuesday the first, but that was one more reason to go for picnics with him. Without the trainings, they would last longer, too.

She smiled dumbly at that thought and had to shake her head and focus on the task that lay before her. A task that she was sure she couldn’t tackle in time for that evening. A task that seemed much, much greater than what she wanted to believe.

What to wear that evening?

But it was no small deal. A portrait would last forever.

Or until she decided she didn’t like it anymore and asked Derek to paint her again.

Anyway, what she was going to wear was definitely important. A dress? A long dress? A short dress? Jeans and a shirt? Shorts and t-shirt? What kind of portrait did Derek want to paint of her anyway? Something formal? Or something nice and relaxed? He hadn’t told her at all, did that mean that she was the one to decide? Probably. But what kind of portrait did she want? She wouldn’t mind sitting on an antique armchair, with an elegant dress that swiped the floor while she was covered in precious jewels.

But that would have been a bit too ostentatious. People would believe that she was some sort of snobby princess or something. A portrait like that wouldn’t have been good to hang in her room. Not that she was sure that Derek wanted to paint her and then give her portrait. Probably he wanted to keep it for himself, which was flattering and a bit annoying at the same time. She did want it. She wanted to show it to Hugo too, hear his opinion, even when he didn’t know anything about art.

She strode towards her wardrobe and opened it. It was only five, her date wasn’t until seven. She took a deep breath and started her seemingly impossible quest for the right outfit…

***

“Oh my word.”

Lily’s head snapped up from the mirror, her eyes meeting Hugo’s wide ones. “What? Do I look ugly? Should I change? This is not the right outfit to be painted in, is it?” she asked anxiously.

He blinked as she turned around. “What? No, no, you look… gorgeous. It’s your room, I… All my hard work and it’s a mess again.”

She looked at her long, midnight blue dress and her silver belt and smiled before glancing around herself with a sheepish expression. “Oh right,” she mumbled, “sorry about that. I tried not to make a mess, but I was panicking about what to wear.”

He cocked his head but smiled condescendingly. “It’s alright, I had to find myself something to do anyway, since you’re about to leave me here all alone,” he said calmly.

She shook her head and turned towards the mirror again, adjusting her shoulder straps and putting on her long earrings. “You make me feel guilty,” she protested, “and you don’t have to tidy my room every time, I’ll just push everything back into the wardrobe.” She looked at him through the mirror and saw that he was staring at her.

“You’re going to be home early?”

She nodded. “Yes, it’s a weekday, I’ll be home at ten maximum.”

“You promise?” he asked softly, and Lily felt the urge to glance at him, only to find him looking back at her like a stray puppy.  

She couldn’t help giggling. “Promise,” she said, “but you go to bed, in case I’m late, okay?”

“But you’re not going to be late.”

“But in case I am…”

“But you won’t.”

“I won’t,” she conceded. “But don’t get angry with me if I’m five minutes late, okay?”

He brought a hand to his heart. “When am I angry with you?”

“When you act all jealous,” she replied, slipping her feet into her shoes. She turned and grinned at him. “Don’t even try to deny it.”

He rolled his eyes as she walked past him. “I worry about you,” he said, following her into the living room. “A beautiful girl going to the house of a lascivious artist…”

“Thank you for saying that I’m beautiful,” she said, not looking at him, “but lascivious is probably the last word you can use to describe Derek.”

“You still haven’t kissed him?” asked Hugo suspiciously. “Really?”

She nodded, blushing. “Yes, but I don’t want to talk about that, please.” She smiled at him and grabbed her bag. “I’ll see you later, Hugo. Okay?”

“Don’t be late.”

She shook her head and sighed. “Bye, Rufus.”

The kitten meowed lazily back at her and she blew a kiss to Hugo before walking out of the flat.

***

Derek’s flat was immersed in the warm light of the sunset. Everything, especially the spare room he used to paint, was the colour of fire. It was beautiful and now she knew why he had told her to come at that time of day. 

“You look absolutely dazzling,” he murmured as he guided her to the painting room.

“Thank you,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Do you like the dress?”

“It’s perfect,” he replied as he led her to the elegant chair he had prepared amongst his canvas. “As you always are.”

“Stop it,” she giggled, “or you’ll have to use all your red to paint the blush on my cheeks.”

He let her sit on the chair and smiled brightly at her. “Which would be unfortunate, because I also have your hair to colour,” he said calmly, dragging a little coffee table covered in finger food towards her. “On the other hand, you’re even more beautiful when you blush.”

She took a deep breath, and proceeded to change the subject as she blushed. “Is all that delicious food for the portrait, or for us?”

“Us,” he assured her. “I hope you like cheese because I put it basically everywhere.” He pointed to a plate, then to another, then to another. “Mozzarella sticks. Parmesan chips. Celery with blue cheese,” he declared.

“I love cheese,” she said, “and I don’t have it nearly enough at home. I don’t even know why because Hugo loves it, too. Probably I’ll have to write it on our shopping list.”

Derek nodded calmly. “Shall we start? I wouldn’t want to miss the light,” he said. “Even though I’m only going to draw you today, I still need the light to shadow your figure.” He went to stand behind a big canvas and looked at her from over the edge. “Have you decided what you’d like? Just the bust or a full shot?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “What do you suggest? I trust you, Derek,” she said, smiling.

“A full shot, then,” he said thoughtfully, “but I’m saying it just because I have dozens of portraits of your face.” He seemed to blush a little too, and Lily smiled warmly at him.

“You’ll have to show them to me sooner or later,” she said. “I’m curious to see them.”

“This one is going to be better, you don’t need to see them,” he said gently before looking at her. “Hmm, would you please smile?”

She did, parting her lips only slightly as she placed her hands in her lap. “Like this?”

“Marvellous,” he said. “Can you straighten your shoulders? And look at me askew, please? Just like that, beautiful.”

Her smile turned into a grin before relaxing her face once more. “Can I talk while you draw me?”

“Of course,” he replied. “I’d love that.”

She nodded and kept on smiling as she stared at him. He looked so focused on what he was doing that Lily almost felt naked in front of him, just as if he could see under her dress. Or under her skin was more appropriate.

She remembered Dean Thomas, her parents’ friend, painting her when she was a child, but it had been nothing like that. Dean Thomas took a picture of her, Albus, and James while they were playing on the beach at Shell Cottage and painted them as they built a sand castle. It was a fun and sweet painting and it was still hung in the living room at Grimmauld Place.

This was way more intimate, as if she was being looked inside. Inside her head, inside her heart, inside her stomach. Could he possibly do that? Could he possibly see her feelings? No, obviously he couldn’t. He couldn’t see the very still butterflies, he couldn’t see her constant thoughts of Hugo, he couldn’t see how her heart didn’t beat faster for him.

“I thought you wanted to talk,” he said with a smile. “You seem lost in thought instead.”

She blinked and looked at him, her smile gone. “Oh, I’m sorry, I really was lost in thought,” she replied. “But it’s all your fault, I was admiring your technique.” She complimented herself on her steady tone as she dished out that lie. “Anyway, I’m seeing Rose tomorrow for lunch. She just got back from Greece. I hope she wants to help me with the baby-shower, it’s going to be so much work, but so much fun, I hope.”

“If you need help with some decorations,” he said softly. “I mean… I don’t want to brag, but I’ve got quite the artistic flair, you know…”

She smiled brightly at him. “I’d love if you could help,” she said, “but I’m afraid Auntie Fleur wants to keep it just between us girls, you know, and very down to earth. I just hope that she’ll let me use magic…”

Derek smiled as he kept drawing her. “Of course, no problem,” he said, “but if you need any help with anything, remember that I’m here, okay?”

“Thank you, Derek.” She glanced at the food. “Can I have something? Do you mind if I move?”

“Please, help yourself.” He stepped forward and took a parmesan chip, popping it into his mouth. “There’s some pumpkin juice under the table if you want.”

She grabbed a mozzarella stick and bit on it. It was still warm and it melted deliciously in her mouth. She hummed in delight. “Yummy,” she said, swallowing. “You need to give me the recipe, I’m sure Hugo would love it.”

“I’m sure he would,” he replied gently. “How’s he? Feeling better than this past weekend?”

“Yes, I suppose,” she replied. “He said that Marie asked him to tell me to go to her house this weekend.” She darkened slightly. “He said she was nice to ask…”

“He’s really in love, isn’t he?” chuckled Derek.

“What?” gasped Lily. “No! Oh my God! He’s definitely not in love with her. I don’t know why you’d say something like that.” She grabbed another mozzarella stick and tossed it in her mouth, chewing angrily. What was wrong with him?

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly quietly. “I just thought…” His voice trailed away as he collected his thoughts. “I just figured they were in love, since they’re going out together.”

“They’re not going out together,” she pointed out sharply. “They had a couple of dates, that’s all. But he doesn’t like her. He assured me. Especially not after the trick she pulled on me.”

Derek looked at her, his lips pressed tightly together. “I’m sorry, Lily,” he said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m not upset,” she replied quickly. “I’m just surprised you’d think something like that.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “Let’s change the subject, shall we? The light is going down quickly.”

He nodded. “I know. The most beautiful things in life are so short-lived, aren’t they?” He looked at her and smiled. “Except for you.”

“Derek!” she protested half-heartedly. “Stop making me blush.”

“Never,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re so lovely when you blush.”

And he proceeded to make her blush for the whole evening, as he covered her with compliments and praises for her excellent pose.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to a reader: Holly! Hope you have a lovely day, hon. :D 
> 
> Guys, I can hardly believe that there are only two weeks and one day left before this story is over. God. I AM GOING TO FREAKING MISS ALL OF YOU. ♥

***

Rose was beautifully tanned: her usually fair complexion was the colour of amber and her freckles stood out exquisitely on her face. Her eyes seemed brighter than usual, just like her brother’s were now that he was all sun-tanned as well. She was also sporting a relaxed and almost dreamy smile that had Lily reminiscing about Auntie Luna’s smile. Travelling did that to people: it made them relaxed and happy. In fact, when Lily had come back from Penzance, she had felt happy for days afterwards.

“Rosie!” she exclaimed as she threw her arms around her neck. “Hi! Look at you! You look so happy and pretty.”

Rose hugged her back tightly. “Hi Lily,” she said. “Thank you, you look pretty yourself, my lovely.” She let her go and tilted her head back to have a proper look at her. “I came to see you on Sunday, Sleeping Beauty, but there was such a crowd in your flat… I mostly sat with Hugo, trying to cheer him up. The poor chap.”

Lily smiled brightly as she linked arms with her cousin and they walked into the Leaky Cauldron. “Thank you for dropping by,” she said. “They told me everybody came to visit, but I really don’t remember anything at all. Only that I had the best nap of my life, probably.”

They waved at Hannah, who waved back at them with a tea towel in one hand. They found a table in a corner and sat down, chatting cheerfully as they placed their bags on an empty chair.

Rose started to tell her everything about her holiday straight away: Greece was brilliant. The sea was the colour of Rose’s eyes – that was followed by a giggle and the explanation that Scorpius had said that – the sky was even bluer, it was always sunny and hot, and there were many youngsters ready to have fun and lots of yummy food to try. And the shopping wasn’t expensive at all.

“I got you a little something,” she finally said, handing her a plastic bag that Lily hadn’t noticed Rose had while they were sitting down. “They’re very fashionable in Greece; everybody wears them. I bought myself a pair, too.”

“Oh thank you, Rose,” grinned Lily, taking out a package in the unmistakable shape of a shoebox. “You shouldn’t have!” Nonetheless, she tore the paper from it and opened it quickly, devoured by curiosity. Inside, there were soft leather gladiator sandals. Beautiful and dark brown in colour.

“I know summer is almost over, but you can still use them for your dates with Derek,” said Rose, giggling. “Or keep them for next year.”

“Thank you, Rose,” she repeated, smiling brightly. “They are absolutely lovely. They’ll look great with the dress my mum brought me from Italy.”

“I’m glad you like them,” said Rose as Lily put them away. “So, I think we have a lot of catching up to do, don’t we?”

Lily nodded forcefully before raising her eyes and finding Claire, the waitress who had flirted _obscenely_ with Hugo a few weeks back, walking to them with the menus in her hands.

“Hi, welcome to the Leaky Cauldron,” she said cheerfully. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Two pumpkin juices,” said Rose. “Right, Lily?”

She nodded again, pretending to peruse the menu not to have to look at the girl.

“Great, I’ll be right back to take your order.”

“Thank you,” said Rose before letting out a little giggle.

Lily looked up at her, and was confused to see that Rose was looking back at her with an amused expression. “What?” she asked defensibly.

“Is she still crushing over Hugo?” asked Rose softly. “Is that why you aren’t even looking at her?”

Lily darkened and lowered her eyes on the menu again. “I don’t know,” she replied. “Hugo and I haven’t come in here in weeks.” She stared as Claire walked back to them with two glasses and a jug filled with pumpkin juice. “But if she asks, I’m Hugo’s girlfriend.”

“Why would she ask?” whispered Rose, but Claire had already arrived and placed the pumpkin juice on their table.

“Ready to order?” she asked.

“Yes, I’d like a shrimp Caesar salad, please,” said Rose. “With extra lemon.”

“Perfect. And you, love?”

She was sure that that “love” had been said with a tone of disdain, but when she looked up at her, she was smiling brightly at Lily.

“I’d like a burger with extra chips, thank you,” she said, handing back the menu, “and extra sauce.”

“Of course, it’ll be about ten minutes, is that okay?”

“Perfect,” said Rose. “Thank you.”

The waitress smiled again and walked away, and for a moment Lily felt rather annoyed for that fact that Claire had probably completely forgotten who she was.

“So tell me everything,” said Rose. “Everything that I’ve missed in these two weeks.”

Lily leant back against the chair. “Oh well,” she said. “Let me see… There’s Remus’ baby-shower this Saturday. You’re coming, right?”

“Of course I am,” said Rose. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Are you and Auntie Fleur really organising it all by yourselves?”

“Yes, but you can come and help us set up Shell Cottage tomorrow and on Saturday,” she said. “We won’t say no to a couple of strong arms.”

“I’d be happy to help, but strong is not exactly my main quality,” she said, “but I know a variety of Levitation Spells and Decorating Charms. Only problem is that I’m afraid I’m busy tomorrow, but Saturday I’ll be at Shell Cottage all day.” She poured herself and Lily some pumpkin juice. “Hugo is strong. Have you asked him to come and help?”

“Auntie Fleur doesn’t want any man around,” she said, shrugging a shoulder. “Hugo offered already, but she was inflexible. Probably in France it’s bad luck to have a guy involved in a baby-shower.” Lily smiled brightly. “But speaking about Hugo, I have to tell you everything about Penzance!”

“Oh right,” she said. “Did you have a nice time? Hope you didn’t meet any of the local boys… some of them are pretty nasty.”

Lily nodded seriously. “I did meet some, they invited us to a party on the beach.” She lowered her voice and glanced furtively around herself. “Don’t tell this to anybody, we didn’t even tell your parents, but Hugo beat one of them to a pulp.”

“He did what?” Rose’s voice was very high-pitched.

“Yes, after he pinched my butt,” she admitted.

“Was that Daniel?” asked Rose, fuming.

Lily nodded solemnly in reply.

“Hmm,” she growled. “What a despicable human being! I have no clue why Hugo would still be friends with those people. We used to play together when we were little, but when they grew up they started drinking and partying and taking advantage of girls.”

“Aunt Hermione told me that he tried to kiss you…”

Rose’s face darkened. “Yes, he tried… He has never tried again since,” she told her. “I hexed him good, and had to keep it secret from Scorpius; otherwise he’d go and hex him, too.”

Lily grinned. “Hugo beat him to a pulp,” she said. “But Daniel fought back; he even punched me in the eye. By mistake,” she hurried to add as Rose looked at her in horror.

“I need to slap some sense into Hugo when it’s up to choose his friends,” she growled. “My brother is intelligent and good at sports, but honestly, he’s just too trusty and wouldn’t recognise a bad influence even if they danced naked around him.”

“He said he’s no more friends with them,” said Lily, smiling weakly. “Not after that night at the beach.”

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “That’s what he always says,” she huffed, “and then they always manage to coax him back to do some mischief.”

“But he… he assured me that he never… you know…”

“What?” asked Rose darkly. “Because he’s done his fair share of trouble, you know.”

“But like… he’s never touched a girl, or anything…”

“Oh my! Of course not! He can be a daredevil when he wants, but he’s not an idiot,” she said before smiling. “He was really worried for you, when I saw him on Saturday. He got quite the heart attack, you know. He loves you a great deal, Lily.”

Lily couldn’t help smiling dumbly. “I love him, too,” she said, blushing at her breathy tone.

Claire choose the worst moment to bring them their lunch and interrupt their conversation on exactly how much Hugo loved her. Both of them thanked her and she wished them a “Bon Appetit”.

“I know,” said Rose seriously. “Alright, now tell me everything about Derek. Have you already done it? Are you officially together yet?”

Lily almost choked on the chip she was chewing. “What? No, no, no, no. We’re not… we’re not together. We just… we just go out, have dates, you know… He’s painting me, now. I’m like his model or something.”

“Hmm, a painter and his model, that sounds like the beginning of a torrid love affair,” giggled Rose. “Is he a good kisser at least?”

“I… We… We haven’t…”

“You haven’t kissed yet?” asked Rose in disbelief.

Lily proceeded to blush and shake her head. “No, is it… is it weird?”

Rose mixed her salad, the shrimps disappearing under a mountain of green leaves. “A bit,” she replied thoughtfully. “Are you sure you like him? You don’t really seem that much into him.”

Lily lowered her eyes on her burger. It looked so big now and suddenly she wasn’t really hungry anymore. “I guess,” she replied, pushing the chips with her fork. “I mean, I don’t really feel butterflies in my stomach when I’m with him, but he’s nice and caring and sweet…”

“He’s a good friend.”

Lily nodded softly. “I guess he is.”

“But not a good boyfriend,” stated Rose.

“I… I don’t know…”

“You don’t want to give him a chance?” asked Rose gently.

Lily looked at her a bit dejectedly. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “I don’t want to lead him on and make him believe that… that there could be something between us…” Her words trailed away and when she looked at Rose, she knew from her cousin’s expression that she was talking rubbish. “Oh, alright, it’s a bit late for that… I probably shouldn’t have accepted to go to his flat all those times if I didn’t want to lead him on… But you know… I mean I don’t know, maybe I could give him a chance and it would be good… It’s just… I’m just confused…”

Rose cocked her head and smiled gently. “Is there someone you like, Lily? Someone who’s not Derek?”

She swallowed, feeling the desire to confess to the last sinful thought she had about Hugo to Rose. “Maybe,” she whispered.

Rose nodded softly. “Do I know him?”

She bit her bottom lip and nodded jerkily.

Rose nodded back once more. “Have you talked to him? To this other guy? Maybe he likes you back, you know.”

She shook her head forcefully and hid her face in her hands. “No, no, no,” she chanted. “He doesn’t. I just know it. Trust me.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do, Rosie,” she groaned. “I swear, please, can we change the subject? Can we talk about… about the weather? Or about Kneazles? Have you seen my Kneazle? Isn’t he the cutest little fella?”

Rose looked pointedly at her, but she was nice enough to let the subject drop just as Lily had begged her to do.

***

“I saw Rose for lunch today.”

Hugo looked up from Lily’s feet, which were digging into his thigh. “I saw her on Saturday. Did I not tell you?”

She shook her head. “She brought me a present,” she giggled. “Gladiator sandals from Greece. They’re lovely.”

He nodded. “She brought me swimming trunks,” he said before adding, “We could use our presents next weekend… you know, if we really go somewhere…” He looked at her and smiled. “If you want to go somewhere with me,” he whispered.

“I’m going to do everything you want,” she replied. “It’s your weekend, the one right before your trials. I’m all yours.”

He closed his fingers around her foot and rubbed his thumb over her ankle. “All mine to do whatever I want?” he grinned.

She shook her head, but grinned back. “All yours to go _wherever_ you want to relax.”

He smiled softly at her. “Thank you, Lily.”

“No problem,” she replied. “Have you decided what to do on Saturday night with the guys? Are you doing anything interesting?”

“I think we’re going to a Muggle pub in London,” he said, nodding, “to have dinner, dance, drink…”

“Don’t drink too much,” said Lily seriously.

“Look who’s talking,” he grinned. “You too at the baby-shower. I’ll have to tell Grandma to keep an eye on you…”

She stuck out her tongue at him and he pounced her, then he started to tickle her so mercilessly that she laughed until her jaw hurt.

***

Auntie Fleur was the most organised person Lily had ever seen. She was more organised than Auntie Hermione, and that was saying something.

Of course, it was the baby-shower of her first grandchild. The firstborn of her firstborn. Victoire’s baby. So Lily couldn’t really be surprised that when she arrived at Shell Cottage on that Friday morning, her aunt had already divided the decorations for colour, shape, and size, she had prepared a detailed disposition of where to hang said decorations, and all the necessary to prepare the games that they would play during the baby-shower. She had also piled a list of recipes and somehow had found cookie cutters in the shape of baby bottles, dummies, and rocking horses, and she also had a pile of pictures of babies on the table. She obviously wanted everything to be perfect.

“Oh,” said Lily throwing her bag on the sofa and going to see the pictures. “Who are these? They’re adorable!”

Auntie Fleur looked at her and smiled gently. “Which one ees your favourite?” she asked.

Lily flipped through them. They were all cute as a button. Some seemed newer, while some other seemed vintage or even ancient, as if Auntie Fleur had searched for them in some library or some antique shop.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I like them all…”

“Very diplomatic, Lily.”

“Am I?” she asked a bit surprised at her aunt’s choice of words. “Why?”

“Zees are all your cousins and your aunts and Grandma Molly, with Victoire’s aunts and cousins and friends,” she explained. “We’ll need zem for a game.”

“I see.” She flipped through them again, looking attentively at the pictures, until she finally found what she was looking for. “You’re right! This one’s me!”

Auntie Fleur nodded. “Your mother sent it with ‘ers,” she said, looking at the picture over her shoulder. “Such a cute baby you were.”

“Was I? That’s what Derek’s mother said, too,” she gushed. “That I was the most beautiful baby she’d ever seen.”

Auntie Fleur furrowed her brow. “When did she see you?”

“On Witch Weekly apparently.” She shrugged. “She said I was even more beautiful than her own child.”

Her aunt looked unimpressed. “Oh, zat was not very nice of ‘er,” she pointed out. “Poor Derek.”

Lily giggled in reply. “What’s the game like?”

“Guests will ‘ave to recognise ze other guests,” she explained. “Whoever recognises ze most wins.”

“Sounds fun,” said Lily. “I know I’m going to lose, I can’t even recognise my cousins… Oh, this one’s my mum!”

Auntie Fleur nodded and smiled encouragingly. “Very well,” she said. “Now we better start preparing for ze party. We only ‘ave today, because tomorrow we’ll ‘ave to spend ze day cooking, you know.”

Lily nodded. “Rose said she can help us tomorrow,” she said. “Is everybody coming?”

“Everybody,” she reassured Lily. “EEt ees going to be a success.”

***

Auntie Fleur invited her for dinner, and when she said that she had to go home otherwise Hugo would worry, her aunt Floo Called their flat and invited him, too. He arrived with Rufus in his arms and a big bowl of ice-cream.

They waited for Uncle Bill and then they finally had dinner all together. Both he and Hugo complimented the two women on the way the house looked. Hugo’s praises were probably more heartfelt than Uncle Bill’s though, since he looked particularly unconvinced about the way they had covered his house in very girly decorations and it now looked like a giant, blue bonbonnière. 

“Luckily, we’re not invited to this baby-bath,” said Uncle Bill, winking at Hugo.

“Baby-shower,” corrected Auntie Fleur calmly.

Hugo caught Lily’s eye and chuckled.

“Where are we going, Hugo? I hope somewhere where there are no babies or hordes of screaming ladies,” said Uncle Bill.

“We’re going to Muggle London, Uncle Bill,” replied Hugo. “It was kind of my father’s idea. We’re having dinner in a pub and then, maybe we can go dancing or drinking… just no magic, okay?”

“And you trust your Uncle George not to do magic after a few drinks?” asked Auntie Fleur sceptically. “Oh, I don’t zink zis ees going to end well…”

Lily and Hugo chuckled. Uncle Bill just smiled and sipped from his Butterbeer.

“Well, it’s good that we have the Head Auror with us, then,” he said. “He’s going to _Obliviate_ every Muggle that George hexes.”

Auntie Fleur gave him a pointed look, but didn’t add anything to that.

“What time shall I be here tomorrow, Auntie?” asked Lily.

“You’re going to be here tomorrow, too?” asked Uncle Bill. “Auntie Fleur is really enslaving you, isn’t she?”

She giggled again. “No! I like to help her. We had fun decorating today, Uncle Bill,” she said. “We even set up games and made some party favours and prepared presents that the guests can create for Remus and Victoire.”

“Well, I know for sure that your cousin’s going to be happy to be the centre of attention,” he said with a smile.

“Remus ees going to be ze centre of attention,” corrected Auntie Fleur. “Not too early tomorrow, Lily, don’t worry, maybe come after lunch? Will you tell Rosie too?”

“Of course, I’ll owl her tomorrow.” She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “I think we should probably go,” she said. “I’m well tired after today.”

“Don’t worry, Lily, Hugo will carry you home,” said Uncle Bill. “Right, Hugo?”

He suppressed a chuckle. “I don’t know… she had quite a bit of pasta tonight.”

“Hey!” she protested. “You had quite a bit of pasta, too!” She stuck out her tongue and stood from the table to go and grab Rufus.

Hugo stood up too. “Oh come on, it was a joke,” he grinned.

“A stupid joke,” she pouted, squeezing Rufus in her arms. “No! Stay away. No! Hugo, I’m serious—no! Let me down!” But she was laughing as one of Hugo’s arm slid under her knees and the other around her back, and he raised her to his chest. “Okay, you’re strong; we know that already, now let me down,” she said, patting his chest.

He put her down and winked at her and she winked back at him.

“See you tomorrow, Lily,” said Auntie Fleur. “And you, keep an eye on your uncles and father, okay ‘Ugo?”

“I’ll do,” he said. “Thank you for having us, Auntie Fleur. Have a nice baby-shower. Take lots of pictures.”

“We will.”

“Night, Uncle Bill. See you tomorrow.”

“Hugo, Lily, sleep tight.”

“Bye,” said Lily. “Nighty night.” And they Apparated in Diagon Alley with Rufus in her arms right before another yawn bubbled over her lips.

***

There was something incredibly beautiful about cooking with Rose and Auntie Fleur. Lily didn’t quite know what it was, but she felt a vague happiness at the bottom of her stomach. Not the same excitement, followed by the wayward butterflies, she felt when she helped Hugo in the kitchen, nor the interest that Derek aroused in her when he showed her how to make those complicated dishes.

This one was happiness, carefreeness, and peacefulness. And she was loving every minute of it.

She had gone to Rose and Scorpius’ flat to pick her cousin up, had stayed for a bit of a chat with Scorpius, who looked like he had burnt his nose quite badly in Greece, and then had Apparated with Rose to Shell Cottage.

Auntie Fleur had prepared all the ingredients to make a proper meal and many kinds of finger food, biscuits especially, and she even had instructions on how to shape hardboiled eggs into little, adorable prams. To Lily that sounded quite impossible, unless done with magic, but there didn’t seem to be any magic involved in any of the recipes that Auntie Fleur had prepared.

“I’ll prepare the cupcakes, Auntie,” said Rose, tying an apron on the small of her back. “And Lily you can work on the biscuits.”

Lily scratched her forehead as she stared at the recipe. “I’m not really the best at biscuits,” she admitted. “Maybe I could cut the vegetables? Or the fruit for the fruit salad? I make a mean fruit salad. Ask Hugo!”

Rose giggled as she exchanged an amused glance with Auntie Fleur. “I believe you, don’t worry,” she said as she started to measure the flour, sugar, and butter. “So, my brother managed to turn you into a healthy person,” she said. “I wouldn’t have said that from yesterday’s burger.”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “He is concerned about my diet,” she confessed, “and ever since I’ve moved in with him I’ve improved it, I swear. But sometimes it’s nice to eat some junk food, isn’t it?” She looked at Rose, raising an eyebrow. “You’re not going to tell on me, are you?”

Rose looked back at her over the cloud of flour that had puffed up from the bowl. “Lily, you know that sometimes you talk about Hugo like he’s your… I don’t know, your boyfriend or your fiancé,” she said thoughtfully, “and vice versa, too though.”

Lily’s lips parted in surprise at that. “Do I?” she asked before adding a throaty, “Does he?”

Rose nodded. “Yes, you two spend too much time together,” she said, but Lily was glad to see that she was giggling. “Don’t they, Auntie Fleur?”

“Eet’s nice zat zey get along,” said Aunt Fleur gently. “Can you imagine if zey didn’t, Rosie?”

Rose giggled again. “No, I can’t imagine,” she replied. “They would have probably already torn down the house, knowing their tempers.”

Lily shook her head, but smiled. “Anyway, what fruits do you want in the fruit salad, Auntie Fleur?”

“All of zem,” she said, gesturing gracefully over a multitude of fruits that had been thoroughly washed and placed on the counter.

“Those are a lot, and I’m not really fast,” she said, “but I promise I’ll cut them very neatly.” She grabbed the apples and started working on them. “Was Dominique working today?” she asked. “Or is she distracting Vicky?”

“She’s distracting ‘er sister,” said Auntie Fleur. “While Roxanne is meeting Victoire’s friends who don’t know where Shell Cottage is.” She turned down the fire under the gigantic pot filled with eggs. “Lucy ‘as gone to pick up ze nappy cake, and Molly is going to be ‘ere with ze ice-cream later zis afternoon.”

“That’s so cool that everybody is doing something,” said Rose, mixing the batter into a bowl. “And the guys are going out into Muggle London. Hugo invited Scorpius, too, and I can’t help worrying about them. I just know they’re going to get themselves into some sort of trouble.”

“My dad and my brothers are Muggle savvy,” said Lily calmly, “and so is your dad and Hugo, I’m sure they’ll be alright.”

“You forget that they’re not Muggle savvy at all when they’re drunk,” pointed out Rose. “Remember that time when we went to see the Muggle celebrations for New Year’s on the Embankment? Your dad was almost going to arrest himself because he Transfigured the hat of the woman in front of him into a frog, and she almost fell into the Thames after she had a heart attack.”

Lily giggled. “I completely forgot about that,” she said. “That was the best New Year’s celebration ever.”

Rose shook her head. “See? That’s why I’m worrying,” she sighed. “Aren’t you worried, Auntie Fleur?”

Auntie Fleur nodded. “Yes, but I trust your uncle,” she said calmly, “and I told ‘im zat I won’t be bringing ‘im any cakes if ‘e ends up in Azkaban.”

That made Lily and Rose giggle.

They kept on dicing fruit, baking cupcakes and biscuits, and cooking food for the rest of the afternoon, chatting, laughing, and joking most of the time. There was no food fight involved, though, for both Rose and Auntie Fleur worked in a very proper way and cleaned as soon as they spilt something on the table.

“What are you going to wear tonight, Lily?” asked Rose. “The sandals I brought you from Greece?”

She looked up from the cantaloupe she was carving small balls from. “Oh, I thought I’d kept those for next weekend,” she said, “when I go away with Hugo.”

Rose stopped with the piping bag in her hands. “Beg your pardon?” she asked. “Where are you going?”

“Oh, I don’t know yet,” she replied calmly, “but it’s the weekend before his trials, I thought we could go away and he could relax a bit.”

Rose glanced at Auntie Fleur, who glanced back at her with an eyebrow cocked.

“What?” asked Lily, looking from one woman to the other.

Rose shook her head slightly as she looked back at her. “Nothing,” she replied with a smile. “How long are you staying away?”

“Two, three days… but I don’t know if we’re going at all; we still need to talk about it,” she said. “We were thinking about the Lake District, though, or somewhere where we can snorkel. Have you ever snorkelled, Rose? Isn’t it great? Hugo made me try in Penzance, and I loved it.” She grinned brightly at the memory.

“I love snorkelling,” said Rose. “It relaxes you and at the same time it tires you, but it’s such a nice tiredness… and then you have a nice meal, you sleep well and the next day you’re back to it. And it’s interesting, too. Oh, Greece was a fantastic place for snorkelling, you know? Scorpius and I did it every day, and it was his first time, too.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

They all turned to look at Roxanne, who was standing on the door of the kitchen with Floo Powder in her hair, and was staring at Rose with wide and slightly horrified eyes. She mouthed, “Auntie Fleur, right there,” in a not so subtle way and wriggled her eyebrows towards their aunt.

“About snorkelling,” replied Rose, looking at her as if she was crazy. “Why?”

She took a deep breath and went to place the ice-cream in the freezer. “Never mind,” she muttered. “I thought you were talking about _something_ else.”

“Shouldn’t you be meeting Victoire’s friends?” asked Lily.

“Yeah, but Lucy couldn’t go get the ice-cream and apparently Florean Fortescue’s is closing earlier this afternoon, something about Mr Macmillan’s wife giving birth or something. His second wife I mean,” she explained. “So Lucy will meet Victoire’s friends and I picked up the ice-cream.” She looked at Aunt Fleur. “Auntie, why is Florean Fortescue’s called… well, Florean Fortescue’s? Instead of Ernie Macmillan’s I mean.”

“To remember someone who died in ze war, Roxanne,” replied Auntie Fleur. “Mr Fortescue was kidnapped and killed by Death Eaters and Mr Macmillan wanted to pay ‘omage to ‘im by keeping ‘is name on ze ice-cream parlour.” 

“That’s sweet,” said Rose.

“Yeah, but why did the Death Eaters kill him? Did he finish the Chocolate Frog flavour and it was Voldemort’s favourite?” asked Lily with a giggle.

“Lily!” chastised Aunt Fleur immediately. “Nobody knows why ‘e was killed, but eet’s no laughing matter!”

“Of course, Auntie,” said Lily, giggling under her breath nonetheless. “By the way, where’s Uncle Bill?”

“Ze Burrow,” she replied. “‘E’s been zere since zis morning. ‘E said – and I quote – that ‘e didn’t want to stay in a ‘ouse filled with giggling girls a minute longer.”

They all giggled then, just because they could and there was nobody to scold them. Then the giggles became a laugh and Roxanne finally started helping Rose decorating the cupcakes.

Soon evening came and games, food, and decorations were all ready and looked absolutely perfect. Auntie Fleur was ecstatic and thanked them profusely. When Uncle Bill came back home to get ready for his evening out, he complimented the four women as well.

“Bien,” said Auntie Fleur. “Rose, Lily, if you ‘ave to go and change, do so quickly, ze girls will arrive in ‘alf an ‘our, and Victoire will be ‘ere at seven if everything goes according to plan.”

“I’m sure it will,” said Roxanne. “Go, get ready. I’ll guard the fort.”

“You don’t need to get ready?” asked Lily. “You’re coming wearing shorts and a t-shirt?”

Roxanne gave her a pointed look. “It’s hot and I’m already sweating buckets,” she said, “and this is my style. And… don’t I look cute in this anyway?”

Lily and Rose giggled as she twirled around, her curly hair a cloud around her head. “Cute as a button,” Rose assured her. “Let’s go, you always take ages to get ready, Lily.”

“I don’t…” she lied. “We’ll use the Floo, Auntie.”

“Yes, yes, ‘urry.”

They did. They promised to be back in a matter of minutes and stepped one after the other into the fireplace.

A few seconds later, Lily was in her own flat, and she was surprised to find it filled with young men who cheered loudly when she stepped into the living room.

“Hey, you must be Hugo’s flatmate,” said James as he hugged her. “Merlin, you’re a plump little girl.”

Lily pushed against his chest and glared at her brother. “Sod off,” she growled. “What are you all doing here?”

“Waiting for the elders to meet us at the Leaky,” said Fred as he went to hug her, too. “How’s the baby-shower coming along?”

“Yeah, has my mum already driven you up the wall?” asked Louis, grinning and patting her head.

“No, we’re enjoying ourselves immensely,” she said, “and I have to get ready and be back at Shell Cottage in a bit, so if you’d excuse me—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Albus, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to him. “We need to catch up with your love life. How’s Derek? Is it true he’s painting you?”

“Naked?” chuckled Fred.

“No!” growled Hugo before Lily could even tell him to shut up. “It’s a proper portrait, you knob.”  

Fred cocked an eyebrow as he looked at Hugo. “It was a joke,” he said slowly. “I would have to go and punch that Derek in the face if he was really painting our Lily naked.”

Hugo’s face darkened and he shook his head, muttering something along the lines of, “Not funny.”

Suddenly, Lily was well aware that all eyes were on her flatmate, and she somehow felt herself blush. Hugo too, he was blushing a nice, crimson colour to match his curls.

“Well,” she said, clearing her throat. “I need to get ready.” She easily slipped free from Albus’ fingers and walked towards the corridor before turning to look at the guys who were still staring at Hugo. “Don’t get into trouble in Muggle London, okay?” she told them.

“Of course not,” said Fred, who was the most prone to getting into trouble amongst them all. “Who do you think we are?”

The others chuckled and high fived him and Lily just shook her head and finally made it to her room. She took the quickest shower she had ever managed to take, and slipped into one carefully chosen dress with flowers and big butterflies, which was surely going to make Remus smile and change his hair all sorts of colours.

She tied up her hair into a ponytail and put on a pair of sandals. Grabbing a bag, she hurried out of her room and back into the testosterone-filled living room. James told her that that dress was too short, Albus that she was going to make Remus fall in love with her for sure with those big butterflies, and Teddy just asked her to tell to Vicky that he’d be home at midnight tops.

Hugo didn’t even hug her goodbye, but only muttered an awkward, “Have a nice party.” She was in a hurry, though, and didn’t have time to ask what was wrong with him. Louis and Fred hugged her and even Scorpius asked her to pass Rose roughly the same message as Teddy – only he said three in the morning, not midnight.

“Alright,” said Lily, grabbing a fistful of Floo Powder. “Have a nice evening. I’ll see you tomorrow at the Burrow.”

There was a chorus of goodbyes and finally she was travelling back to Shell Cottage, where she almost stumbled into Aunt Audrey as she walked out of the fireplace. “I’m not late,” she gasped, “am I?”

Aunt Audrey smiled gently at her. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Lucy hasn’t arrived yet, and she’s bringing Victoire’s friends. But they should be here any minute, now.” She looked around herself and smiled even more brightly. “Auntie Fleur said you helped her a great deal, Lily,” she gushed. “What a wonderful job you did here.”

“Rose helped cooking, too,” said Lily, “and Auntie Fleur had everything planned out. I couldn’t have done anything wrong even if I wanted to.”

Her mother was talking to Aunt Angelina, who seemed to be gushing over the egg-prams that Aunt Fleur had made, Aunt Hermione was looking at the pictures that were laid out for the game, probably recognising most of them and waiting impatiently to see Victoire’s friends to guess the others.

Lily had to admit that Shell Cottage looked fabulous with decorations that welcomed the newest addition to the family, banners that flashed alternatively “Welcome, Remus!” and “We love you!”, and food that was beautifully displayed on the long table in Auntie Fleur’s living room.

And once Lucy arrived with those friends of Victoire’s who didn’t know where Shell Cottage was exactly, all they had to do was wait for the mummy and her bundle of screaming joy.

“Shouldn’t we hide?” asked Molly. “How is she coming? Is she Apparating or using the Floo?”  

“She’s using the Floo,” said Rose. “She doesn’t want to Apparate with Remus. He’s still too young and it upsets his stomach.”

“Oh poor thing,” said Lucy. “He’s growing so fast, though. Soon she’s going to sit by himself, and then crawl, and talk…”

“He’s still a baby, Luce,” said Roxanne. “It’s going to take him ages to—”

She was interrupted by the fireplace coming alive with green flames. They all stopped and looked at the hearth, ready to cheer and welcome Victoire and Remus. Instead, it was Dominique, and she threw her hands up near her face, looking at them as if they were crazy.

“She’s coming!” she shouted. “What are you waiting for? Hide!”

They hadn’t thought about hiding, but now it did seem like a good idea. They all scrambled to their feet and tried to find a place behind a curtain or a sofa, under a table or in another room. It wasn’t an easy task while Auntie Fleur lowered the lights to a soft glow.

“Not you, Mum,” said Dominique urgently. “I told Victoire you wanted to see her.”

A few seconds later, a slightly disgruntled Victoire was walking out of the fireplace with Remus in her arms. “Qu’est-ce qu’il y a, maman?” she sighed. “C’est tard, et Dominique m’a dit—uh, on a fait quoi avec les lumières? On ne peut pas—”

Apparently, it seemed like a good idea to cut short all that rambling in French because, as if they had planned it, they screamed, “Surprise!” all together, and jumped up from behind their hiding places, while the lights were turned on once more.

Victoire’s eyes widened for the briefest moment, then a grin split her face into two, and she turned towards Dominique, pointing a finger in accusation. “Ah! You liar! I knew I smelled a rat!”

Dominique hid her face in her mother’s shoulder and laughed. “I couldn’t certainly spill the beans about your surprise baby-shower, could I?”

Victoire turned to look at the crowd of girls and women in front of her. “Baby-shower?” she asked, pushing Remus up on her hip. “Oh Merlin!”

Then it was all a profusion of “Thank you” and “You shouldn’t have!” and “What a beautiful present! Just what I needed!”

Lily and Hugo’s present was particularly loved, or so Lily wanted to believe, either way, Victoire laughed heartily at the onesie with the funny quote that they had chosen and most of the guests thought it was very clever. Lily’s mother chuckled for a good five minutes, and Auntie Hermione complimented her, too.

Victoire’s friends got Remus more clothes, toys, and many other things that Remus would need in the months and even years to come – like books, swimming trunks, and a toy broomstick that had Auntie Fleur frowning upon.

Remus seemed ecstatic to be the centre of attention along with his mother. His hair was out of control and when Lily took him in her arms, his locks became a funny looking mix of all the colours she was wearing, causing the hilarity of the guests and of his own mother.

“D’aww,” said Lily. “You like my dress, don’t you, Remus? And to think that Al said that it was too short.”

“Brothers,” said Victoire, shaking her head. “They always have to say something even when they don’t have anything intelligent to say.” She furrowed her brow and added, “By the way, is this why Teddy was going out with the guys? He said they were having a guys’ night out, but my mum just forbade them to come to the baby-shower, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, they weren’t invited, and it was Hugo’s idea to have a guys’ night out,” she replied. “They’re going to Muggle London to have a few drinks… Rose is very worried they’re going to get themselves into some kind of trouble. Even Scorpius is going with them. Oh by the way, Teddy told me to tell you that he’s going to be home by midnight tops.”

“Thank you. And thank you for the baby-shower, Lily,” she whispered. “Mum said that you helped a great deal, and I love the present you got me.”

Lily grinned from ear to ear. “I’m glad you like it. Hugo was the one who got the idea for the writing, though.”

“I’ll have to thank him tomorrow.” She nodded towards the long table half-covered in food. “I love the egg-prams,” she confessed. “They’re genius.”

“That’s all your mum’s doing… I made the fruit salad,” she said. “Is it any good?”

“It’s fantastic,” said Victoire with a grin. “Very refreshing, especially with the ice-cream on top.”

“And Rose made the cupcakes and decorated them,” she said. “Aren’t they precious?”

Victoire nodded, and Remus let out a soft babbling noise that was surely an agreement on how cute those things were.

“You like them too, don’t you, Remus?” giggled Lily. “It’s your party. Yes, it is. Yes, it is.”

He seemed to smile and giggle, and his hair changed colour to match Lily’s.

“He loves you, Lily,” she said. “Derek’s going to be jealous…”

She stuck out her tongue at Victoire, and Remus babbled another kind of laughter as he patted her chest.

“Hmm, he’s probably hungry,” Victoire said, as she stood up and picked her son from her arms. “We’ll be right back.”

She disappeared down the hall, with her mother in tow, and Lily jumped at the chance to refill her plate with more delicious food. Mini quiches, crudités, chips, homemade mayonnaise… All things that would make Hugo shake his head in disapproval at how unhealthy they were—no, not the crudités, apparently they were just raw vegetables. Lily put them back down as surreptitiously as she could.

“Lily, you know that vegetables are good for you, don’t you?” Her mother’s voice let her know that she hadn’t been as furtive as she had hoped.

“Yes, Mother,” she replied, turning to look at her with a grin. “Hugo makes me eat them all the time.”

“Such a good young man,” she cooed. “When are you two coming to Grimmauld Place for dinner? Have you decided a day?”

“We haven’t talked about it, yet,” she replied, shaking her head. “We’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?”

“Alright,” she said. “Your dad and I are free… well, basically every night, so don’t you worry, you just tell me and we’ll put together a nice, little dinner for you. Now that I think about it, you haven’t come home in weeks. Honestly, Lily.” She sighed and shook her head.

Lily smiled sheepishly at her, but before she could reply, Auntie Fleur announced that the guessing game would start in a few seconds, to take their places and grab a piece of paper and a quill.

Lily was really quite bad at it, though but she sneakily copied some of the names from her mother.

In the end, Grandma Molly was the one who won. She even got all of Victoire’s friends right, and she kept gloating about it for a good half an hour afterwards.

***

Rufus rubbed his nuzzle into Lily’s nose and she couldn’t help sneezing. “Honestly,” she mumbled in her sleep as she tried to push him away from her face and pull him to her chest at the same time.

It wasn’t a very good idea, because a loud crash coming from the living room made him start, and the next thing Lily knew was that her Kneazle was trying to claw his way out of her arms out of fear.

“Oh bloody hell!” she muttered, pushing off the sheets and letting Rufus jump down and disappear under her bed. She grabbed her wand and muttered, “ _Lumos_ ,” before perching over the side of the mattress and looking down at the ball of fur that was trembling under her bed. “Wow,” she whispered. “Not exactly brave, are we?”

Rufus rolled up into an even tighter ball and glared at her, but she just shook her head and sat up. Her arm was bleeding where he had scratched her and she rolled her eyes before raising her wand and pointing it to her wound.

She stopped before she could mutter the Healing Charm, though, because voices could be heard coming from the corridor.

“Should I wake Lily up?” muttered Louis.

“No… no…” slurred Hugo. “No, please…”

Lily held her breath to listen to the conversation. From Hugo’s voice she could tell that he was drunk. Probably even drunker than his voice let out, since he had to be brought home by their cousin. Why did Uncle Ron allow him to get wasted? That was utterly weird.

“You sure, mate?”

“Yes…”

They walked past her room, and Lily stood up at once and strode towards the door, wand still in her hand and a severe expression over her face. Ah! After all the times when he had reprimanded her for drinking too much, it was finally her turn to chastise him for getting drunk in front of his family.

She opened her door and could see Louis, who had Hugo’s arm over his shoulders, jerking his head to look at her with eyes wide.

“Lily!” he exclaimed. “You gave me a heart attack!”

“Did I?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow. “You just crashed something in my living room.” She walked towards them and circled the two boys. “Why shouldn’t you wake me up? You’re drunk aren’t—oh my God.”

When she came to stand in front of Hugo, he was a pitiful sight. Now she understood why Louis was there, and it definitely wasn’t because Hugo was wasted. Hugo’s nose was bleeding, one of his eyes was black and completely closed, and there were scratches all over his cheeks and arms.

“What happened?” she asked worriedly, cupping his cheeks and looking up into his blue eye. “Oh my God. What… what did you do?”

He jerked his head away from her hands and closed his good eye. “I fell,” he muttered, the moment Louis replied, “He had a fight.”

Hugo turned to glare at him, but it didn’t work that well with only one eye. Louis looked embarrassed enough though.

“You had a fight?” gasped Lily. “With whom?”

“A Muggle,” he replied, glaring a Louis a bit more.

“Oh my God,” she murmured. She turned around and raised his other arm, fitting underneath his shoulder to help him reach his room.

He gave her a soft smile and leant his head over hers for the briefest moment before they resumed their walking.

They didn’t talk until they were into his room; Lily helped him to sit down on his bed and started to undo the buttons of his shirt. “If I ask you why you had a fight with a Muggle,” she said softly, sitting next to him and smiling gently, “you’re going to tell me the truth, right?”

Hugo lowered his eye. “I was drunk,” he muttered.

“You were drunk and just initiated a fight with a Muggle?” she asked in disbelief. “And what about your dad? And my dad? And everybody else? Didn’t they do anything? How could you get that wasted while you were out with your family?”

“Lily, he’s tired. He doesn’t—”

She looked up and glared at Louis while she pushed Hugo’s shirt delicately off his shoulders. “Did you do something, Louis?” she bit out. “Why didn’t you help him?”

Louis’ lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t reply. Hugo’s hand sneaked up to her arm, though, and he smiled gently at her. “Lily, it’s okay,” he whispered. “I just want to go to—you’re bleeding?”

She looked at her arm, where Hugo’s bloodied fingertips were imprinted all over her skin. “You scared Rufus and he clawed me,” she said. “I was going to Heal myself, but then you walked past my door and I forgot.” She looked at him. “And why did nobody Heal you?” She glared at Louis again, but Louis seemed to want to keep his mouth shut and keep himself out of the discussion.

“ _I_ will Heal you,” she said sweetly, turning to look at Hugo. She raised her wand and pointed it to his face. She muttered a quick Healing Charm and soon his black eye turned his usual colour while the swell went away, the scratches disappeared from his skin, and his nose stopped bleeding. Another Cleaning Spell and he was as good as new.

“Thank you,” he said gently. “You’re the best.” He nodded towards her arm. “Now it’s your turn.”

She Healed herself and he seemed to relax a little when the blood disappeared from her complexion.

Louis cleared his throat as if he felt like he was interrupting something. “I’ll be off then…”

Lily turned to look at him and stood up at once. “I’ll walk you to the fireplace,” she said coldly before turning towards Hugo. “You lie down and go to bed. I’ll get you a glass of water and a Sobering Potion.”

Hugo seemed to want to protest something, but she just pushed Louis out of the room and left Hugo there to do exactly as she had instructed. She closed the door at her back and walked in front of Louis, turning to look at him the moment they stepped into the living room.

“Alright,” she whispered. “What happened?”

Louis blinked a couple of times, as if he hadn’t expected her not to believe their blatant lie. “We told you,” he replied, his voice a bit high-pitched. “He had a fight with a Muggle.”

“Do you seriously expect me to believe that?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Really now. What happened?”

He looked over his shoulder and back towards Hugo’s room. “Why would I be lying?” he asked back. “I’m saying the truth. Honestly…”

Her nostrils flared in annoyance, and she folded her arms across her chest. “Okay,” she said. “Then tell me what happened. Why would he have a fight with a random Muggle?”

Louis’ hand went up to ruffle his blond hair. “He… he was drunk… the Muggle was, Hugo was… slightly drunk as well… we all were—are,” he mumbled, “and he… he stepped on his toe, Hugo stepped on his toe, and he… he just started to scream, and push, and punch Hugo… and it happened so fast… so fast we really couldn’t do anything… I swear.”

Lily narrowed her eyes. “When did this happen?”

Louis bit down hard on his bottom lip, clearly giving himself some time to think about it. “While we were queueing.”

“For what?”

“The loo…”

“Was there a queue for the men’s restroom?” she asked.

Louis looked at the fireplace over her shoulder with want. “Yeah,” he coughed out. “Crazy eh?”

“Crazy,” she repeated icily. “And where were your dad and uncles while this happened?”

He seemed to relax a little as he replied to that. “We separated after we went to Ministry of Sound. They decided that they wanted a Butterbeer and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron, while we headed to Soho for—”

“Who’s _they_ and who’s _we_?” she asked coldly.

“Uncle Ron, Uncle Percy, Uncle George, my dad and your dad. They are they,” he muttered. “They wanted to head home a bit earlier too, we weren’t quite ready to.”

Lily’s lips pressed tightly together. At least, that bit made sense. Without responsible adults, she could see why her cousins would get drunk. “Thank you for taking him home,” she said.

“‘S alright,” he mumbled. “Can I go now?”

“Yes,” she replied, stepping aside to let him pass. “See you tomorrow at the Burrow.”

He nodded and he lowered his head to ask for a kiss on the cheek. She gave him one and stared as he walked into the fireplace and muttered his home address. He smiled at her as the green flames devoured him.

She waited a fistful of seconds before getting a glass of water and a Sobering Potion for Hugo. It was as clear as day that most of Louis’ tale was rubbish. Now, why he would lie to her was not as evident to Lily. She could not think of a valid reason why they couldn’t tell her the truth. Unless… She shook her head. No, thinking that he might have met Derek and that _he_ was the one Hugo had fought with was out of the question. Right?

She took a deep breath and turned on her heels, walking back towards Hugo’s room with the water and the potion in her hands. She was going to extract the truth from Hugo. No matter what. She wanted to know what happened, but most of all, she wanted to know why they wouldn’t tell her.

Rufus was sitting right in the middle of the corridor, and when she didn’t walk back into her room, he followed her into Hugo’s.

Hugo was already lying under the sheets, his eyes wide as he stared at her. “Thank you,” he said, sitting up.

She smiled as she sat down next to him. “Here you go,” she said sweetly.

He downed the potion and took a nice long gulp of water. He took a deep breath and, when a less drowsy smile spread his lips, Lily knew that the potion had worked.

“Better?” she asked softly.

“Much better, thank you,” he replied, placing the glass on the bedside table.

She nodded and looked at him as he moved towards the far end of the bed and raised his sheets, patting the mattress next to him and looking at her like a stray puppy.

She didn’t think about it twice. She stood up, slipped inside, and let him wrap his arms around her and pull her to his chest. She didn’t hug him back, though; she was too focused on what to ask him to make him talk.

“I missed you tonight,” he hummed in her hair.

She leant her head over his chest and took a deep breath, but didn’t reply.

“Did you have a nice baby-shower?” he whispered, his hands wandering down her back.

She nodded. “Yes.”

Suddenly there was a soft thump at the foot of the bed, and then tiny little steps pushed into Lily’s ankle and her leg as Rufus made his way up to them. He reached their faces and Hugo raised the sheets a bit for him to cuddle between them.

“Your bed is too small,” complained Lily as she tried not to let her butt stick out of the mattress.

“Hmm,” he replied. “It’s perfect for cuddling, though…”

He tried to squeeze her to his chest, but she placed her hands on his arms to keep him at some sort of distance. “So are you going to tell me what happened exactly or shall I slip you some Veritaserum when you least expect it?” she asked calmly. 

He stiffened and she heard him groan subtly. He didn’t reply.

“Hugo…”

“I told you, Lils,” he murmured. “I had a fight with a Muggle.”

“Really? Where were you?” She was determined to prove that that story was nonsense.

He tried to squeeze her again, but she resisted him once more and he finally capitulated with another sigh. “We were in Hyde Park,” he said. “We were crossing it to go towards Knightsbridge. And this Muggle just—”

“I thought Hyde Park closes at night,” she pointed out. Oh, this was going to be so easy! Finally, having had to listen to her father’s tedious stories about his investigations for hours during wintertime would turn out to be useful.

Hugo swallowed noisily in the silence of the night. “Yeah,” he mumbled, “but this was before closing time… before… before midnight…”

She cocked an eyebrow unconvinced, but he couldn’t see her. “Go on.”

He nodded. “And this Muggle was drunk and coming towards us with his gang of Muggles… and they were all drunk,” he said, “and one started to tease Uncle Bill… you know, about his tattoos, and his piercing and his hair… and then they were taunting us all, and… I know I shouldn’t have responded, and my dad even said—”

“You’re really not going to tell me what happened, are you?” she asked sourly. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

He tilted his head back and looked down at her face, illuminated by the light of the moon. “I was telling you, I—”

“That’s not what Louis said that happened,” she replied. “Why aren’t you telling me?”

His lips parted in surprise, he probably hadn’t thought that she would double check his story. With a groan, he tried to pull her to his chest again, but she resisted him for the second time. “Lily…”

“Don’t,” she said. “Just answer this: why don’t you want to tell me?”

He closed his eyes and groaned. “I can’t,” he whispered.

“Why? Did you beat someone that I know?”

“I—”

“Oh God! It was Derek, wasn’t it?”

“What? No, no! I swear!”

She narrowed her eyes as she looked up at his dejected face. “Then why can’t you tell me?”

“I just can’t, I’m sorry,” he repeated. “Please, please, please, don’t be mad at me, Lily.”

“Of course I’m mad at you—stop hugging me, Hugo,” she thundered. “I thought we were best-friends. Best-friends always tell each other everything.” She poked his chest with a finger, but he just looked even more depressed with every word he said.

She rolled over in bed, and slipped out of his arms. “Let me know when you’re ready to talk to me,” she almost hissed as she sat up.

“No, Lily, please,” he begged, his hand closing around her arm. “Please, stay here tonight. I need you.”

She forced her butterflies to stay still at his tone and she wriggled free from his hand. “I don’t think you do,” she replied coldly. “If you did, you’d tell me what happened.”

“I can’t,” he whinged. “Just believe me when I say that I’d love to tell you, but I can’t… please, Lily…”

She stood up and didn’t turn to look at him as she walked out of his room and stormed into her own, slamming the door at her back. She felt hurt. She didn’t know if it was right of her to feel that way, but she did.

Moreover, she really wanted to stay there with him, hold him through the night, whisper soothing words in his ear, hug him and caress his face until morning. However, the very idea that he would keep from her something that was surely important, something that had him coming back home all covered in bruises, something that Louis and the others knew what it was and she didn’t…

Lily drew the sheets up to her nose and closed her eyes, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears.

Anyway, Rufus could stay with him. If he needed someone to hold through the night, he could cuddle their Kneazle.

***

When Lily opened her eyes the following morning, she found Rufus seated on her pillow, licking his paw with indifference, and the delicious smell of bacon coming from somewhere incredibly close to her.

She rubbed her eyes. They hurt her because of the very little sleep she had gotten that night, and the very high amount of crying she had done.

A tray covered in crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, smoking sausages, lightly toasted bread, butter, cereals, tea, milk, and orange juice had been placed on her bedside table. A little piece of parchment was folded between all those plates and cups and it read, “I’m sorry.”

She sighed and sat up before snatching a piece of bacon and bringing it to her mouth. It was still warm, probably placed under a spell. It was delicious.

She looked at Rufus and shook her head. “Should I forgive him, Rufus?” she asked to the kitten. “Even if he doesn’t trust me enough to tell me what happened last night?”

Rufus meowed and rubbed his nuzzle all over her thigh.

“It must be something serious, though,” she mused. “If he doesn’t want to tell me what happened…” She narrowed her eyes in concentration. “Think, Rufus, think hard. How do we find out?”

Rufus looked at her before turning around and waddling towards her plate. She supposed he had been good enough to wait for her to wake up, but now… There he went! Snatching up some of her bacon before she could stop him, then jumping down from her bed, and disappearing through the ajar door.

“Great help you are!” she muttered after him. “Thief!”

She sighed and grabbed her wand before sitting back against the headboard. “ _Expecto Patronum_ ,” she said and stared as her silver hare hopped through the door and disappeared into the corridor.

A fistful of seconds later, Hugo was pushing the door wide open. He had a sheepish smile over his face and his blue eyes looked like those of a stray puppy once again.

She took a deep breath. “Thank you for making me breakfast,” she said softly.

His smile broadened a little. “No problem,” he replied.

She nodded curtly. “Listen, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine,” she replied as calmly as possible. “But I want you to know that I’m upset that you wouldn’t trust me with something that it’s surely important to you.”

His smile became sheepish once more. “But you forgive me for not telling you?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “Don’t I always forgive you anything?”

He was grinning, now. “Can I come in?”

“Yes, of course you can,” she replied as she took the tray and set it in her lap. “So, apart from the fight, did you have a nice night?”

He sat on her bed and nodded. “Yes, we had a very good dinner in a pub,” he said. “I got nachos and a burger, it was good. And then we went to Ministry of Sound, a club near Elephant and Castle. But half of us didn’t want to go inside once there.” He smiled as she sipped from her tea. “They wouldn’t have let them in anyway…”

“You’re talking about our dads and uncles?”

He nodded. “So we split up. Our dads and uncles went to the Leaky, and us youngsters just took the tube up to Hyde Park Corner and had a walk from there to Piccadilly before going to Charing Cross Road,” he went on. “We stopped here and there to have a few drinks, too…”

“So I was right when I told you not to get drunk, right?”

“You’re always right, Lily,” he said gently.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr Weasley,” she said, unable not to giggle, though.

He smiled at her and she pushed her plate towards him to let him snatch a piece of toast. He did and tossed it in his mouth.

“What time are we going to the Burrow today?” she asked. “Victoire loved the presents we bought for Remus, by the way. She can’t wait to thank you.”

He lowered his eyes and mumbled, “I’m not coming to the Burrow today.”

“What?” she said, her fork lingering in mid-air. “Why?”

He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath. “I’m tired and I have a migraine and I really don’t feel like—”

“Get a potion, Hugo!” she exhorted him. “There are lots in the bathroom cabinet.” She waited for his reply but it never came. “Honestly,” she added softly after a while. “Victoire _really_ wants to thank you, Hugo. And Grandma wants to see you, I bet. You stayed here last Sunday, looking after me, remember? She gets anxious if she doesn’t see us at least once a week.”  

“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “Tell them that I’m sorry, okay?” He stood up from her bed and walked towards the door, and only then Lily felt like he was really serious about staying home.

“Hugo,” she called him. “Wait… what… what’s wrong? You know you can tell me everything. Remember? We’re best friends.”

He turned to look at her. “I know,” he said gently, giving her the hint of a smile. “Thank you.” And then he was gone into his room and Lily heard him lock the door.

***

Victoire and Grandma Molly were both slightly disappointed that Hugo wasn’t at the Burrow.

Lily was just surprised to notice that he wasn’t the only one.

James was missing too and Louis arrived late.

What on earth was going on?


	29. Chapter 29

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _Oh yes, Lavender. Better “Lavender”, maybe. Am I correct? Yes, I could tell straight away that you’re not her. Lavender is fantastic, intelligent, insightful, sweet, and caring, and you’re definitely none of these things. You’re just a fraud. Your literacy skills are a disgrace and your common sense is non-existent. How can you suggest people to use plenty of lube for their unorthodox sexual encounters? I wonder what you had to do to make the editor consent to publish your vulgar replies._
> 
> _And how you managed to raise the sales of the newspaper with your stupid replies is a wonder. And riddle me this, please: why is Lavender – a young, intelligent, beautiful woman – being told to prolong her maternity leave indefinitely? Was this your plan all along? Just wait for ~~me~~ her to have a baby and then snatch ~~my~~ her job? And who cares if my husband has been cheating on me? Right? Of course, you don’t care one bit about me, do you? Oh no, you’re just a silly little girl, you don’t care about anything but yourself, do you? _
> 
> _You just came into the newsroom, claiming to want to be a Quidditch correspondent when all you wanted was my column! And now that you got it, and not just for this summer but forever, what are you going to do? Oh, I know! You’re going to keep answering letter after letter after letter until you’ve ruined other people’s lives too, and not only mine. But don’t think, not even for a moment that I won’t try to stop you._
> 
> _You don’t deserve that job._
> 
> _That job is ~~mine~~ ~~hers~~ Lavender’s and I will do anything in my power to have it back. Anything. If I have to out you to the word for who you are – the silly little Potter girl and a fraud – I will. _
> 
> _I promise that I will. And everybody will know who soiled my name._
> 
> _You did._
> 
> _YOU DID._
> 
> _Cordially,_
> 
> _An Unsatisfied Reader_

***

Lily was looking at Mr Quills with eyes wide as he went through the letter she had just placed in front of him. She had picked up the correspondence that morning, gone home, thinking she would reply in the comfort of her own home, like any other day, and had found _that_ letter. And now, she was back at the newsroom, and it wasn’t even nine in the morning.

Mr Quills was reading through the letter and he was alternating little chuckles to snorts of derision. He didn’t seem remotely worried about the content of the missive though. Not as worried as Lily at least.

She waited patiently for him to finish, fidgeting nervously in her lap, and when he glanced at her, she couldn’t help looking at him with eyes wide.

He snorted once more. “She’s gone off the rail,” he said. “Too bad she didn’t threaten to kill you: it would have made it so much easier to sack her.”

“Sack her?” gasped Lily. “You can’t sack her! She needs to resume her job when I’m made Quidditch correspondent.”

Mr Quills raised his eyebrows.

Lily’s eyes widened even more. “Because I am to be made Quidditch correspondent, right?” she asked frantically. “You promised, after you’ve seen how good I was with words and writing… and I am good… am I not good? You said the sales increased because of me. Didn’t you say that? You… you can’t…”

Mr Quills smiled almost paternally at her. “Lily,” he said. “Lily, Lily, Lily. Derek loves you, my wife loves you, and I really like you. You’re much easier to work with than Fruit Tart. You don’t come barging into my office while I’m in a meeting, crying that you need to go to St Mungo’s because you got a paper cut. You don’t tell me that you only want the cinnamon Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans in your Christmas basket, or the pumpkin ones in your Halloween basket when we don’t even make Halloween baskets for our employees. And you don’t complain that working a couple of hours a day while spending the other eight chatting up the other journalists is too stressing.” His smile became fond. “Yes, I said that you’ll become Quidditch correspondent, but we probably had a little misunderstanding about when that will happen…”

Lily’s shoulders hunched forward. “What do you mean?” she whispered.

“I mean that it’s going to take you years, probably decades, before you become Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet,” he let her know. “You understand, right? Being a correspondent for the most important newspaper in the United Kingdom is serious business. I most certainly cannot give the position to the first girl who asks.”

Her mouth fell open as she listened to him. “But… but I thought you said…” She hated the tremor in her voice, but she couldn’t help feeling utterly helpless as Mr Quills destroyed all her dreams in a few seconds. “I thought you said that after I’ve covered Lavender’s maternity leave… after you’ve seen how good I am with words…”

“Well, after, of course. I certainly couldn’t say ‘before’, right?”

She tried to push back the tears that were threatening to pool in her eyes. “But I don’t want this job!” she protested weakly, sounding like a petulant child. “I want to comment on Quidditch matches; I want to let the readers know about my opinion; I want to write about what I think of the best strategies employed by each team during every season; I—”

“Yes, that’s all very well, Lily, but I don’t know if you can do all these things, do I? Therefore I can’t certainly give you the job like that,” he said, still smiling at her in an infuriating way.

She gritted her teeth. “But if you don’t let me try, you’re never going to know!” she protested. “Why did you give me this job if it’s leading me nowhere? I could have helped my mother, being her assistant! And you could have seen that I have what it takes to be a great Quidditch correspondent!”

He took a deep breath. “Because I needed someone to take Fruit Tart’s job, Lily,” he replied. “And who says that it’s taking you nowhere? A few more years and I’m sure you’ll be where you want to be. Your mother will retire too, sooner or later, right?”

Lily lowered her eyes and balled her hands into fists. He had just tricked her. He had tricked her to take a job that he didn’t know who to dump over. And she had been stupid enough to believe him. Not that she had had much choice at the beginning of the summer: she was just a wee journalist wannabe without experience back then. But had she known that Mr Quills had planned all along to have her working as an Agony Aunt for the rest of her life… Well! She would have found something else to do! Maybe she would have asked to intern at _Which Broomstick?_ Or she would have sent her contributions to the sports column of _Witch Weekly_. Or she could have written something for _The_ _Quibbler_. Auntie Luna and Uncle Xenophilius would have gladly accepted her articles even when they didn’t talk about far-fetched political conspiracies or Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.

So, now, Lily was angry. And hurt. And she wasn’t going to let Mr Quills manipulate her any longer. She suddenly wondered if Derek knew what his father had done. She wondered if Mr Quills had told his son to distract her with his advances while he relegated her to work as an Agony Aunt.

She raised her eyes and looked severely at her boss before standing up. “I’m afraid I didn’t understand what your conditions were when you offered me the job, Mr Quills,” she said as calmly and as coldly as she could. “I don’t think I can keep working like this.”

Mr Quills’ face paled visibly in a matter of seconds, and Lily had to keep her lips well pushed together to avoid smirking at the man’s discomfort. “Now, now, Lily, don’t be rush in your decisions. This job is still a very—”

“I’m not rush,” she cut him off. “I just cannot think of keeping on working here if this job is taking me nowhere.”

“You’re still working for the Prophet; many people would kill to be where—”

“They can have my job,” she replied evenly. She fished out the other letters from her bag and pushed them on the table towards Mr Quills. “And you better find someone quickly,” she said, “because Mike’s only covered until next Monday.”

She tried to look calm as she turned away and walked towards the door. Her stomach was in knots, though, and she wanted to cry and pee at the same time. She couldn’t believe that she was quitting her first job, where she was paid 500 Galleons per month, just because her boss wouldn’t let her write whatever she wanted. Was she being unreasonable? Probably. He was her boss; he could do anything he wanted. She had no right to talk to him like that. _Oh God, what am I doing?_

“Lily,” called Mr Quills, his voice nervous. “Lily, wait… Let’s talk about it. We can have your name printed on the column if that’s what you want!”

She turned to look at him, horrified. “I hope you’re joking! I would die of embarrassment,” she hissed before opening the door and then closing it at her back with a bit more force than necessary.

The few people walking past stopped and stared at her, but she didn’t deign them of a single glance. Au contraire, she strode quickly towards Derek’s office. Next stop would have been her mother’s, but she needed to know if he knew what had been going on all these weeks.

She didn’t even knock. She just opened the door and walked in, startling Derek so much his palette slipped from his hands and shattered to the floor.

She didn’t apologise. “You knew what your father wanted all along, didn’t you?” she cried. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She felt warm, salty tears finally rolling down her cheeks and she didn’t do anything to keep them at bay.

“What?” he asked, eyes wide. “What… what happened? What did he do?”

“I quit,” she sobbed. “I can’t work like this anymore!” She was being ridiculously overdramatic, she knew it, but she didn’t really care. She was angry and she just wanted to let everybody know.

“Oh my God,” muttered Derek, walking briskly towards her. “What happened?” He hugged her to his chest and then guided her towards a chair, offering her a glass of water.

She gulped it down and sobbed once more.

“What did my father do? Do I have to go and confront him? Shall we call him in here? That old… awful…”

She looked up at him, brushing away the tears from her face. “He had never really wanted to give me a chance as Quidditch correspondent,” she sobbed. “He wants to sack Lavender and keep me as the Agony Aunt of the newspaper. He said… he said that he can’t give me the position if he doesn’t know how I write about Quidditch! But how can he know if he doesn’t let me try?”

Derek crouched in front of her. “Oh Lily, my darling,” he sighed, cupping her cheeks and kissing her forehead. “You’re so much right. How about I’ll have a word with him? I’ll tell him to just go and f—”

She pressed a hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up. “No, no, no,” she chanted. “I don’t want him to think that I ran to you because I wanted you to talk to him. I just… I just needed to give vent to my feelings.”

He smiled behind her hand and then kissed her palm. “Of course,” he said sweetly, when she moved it away. “What do you want to do? Do you want me to walk you home? We could stop for an ice-cream… or maybe we can have an early lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, how about that? Or shall we Apparate somewhere far away for the afternoon?”

She couldn’t help smiling at him. “That sounds so inviting,” she murmured, “but I probably should—”

A loud knock on the door cut her off mid-sentence. Derek turned to look over his shoulder and she raised her eyes as the door swung open. She was ready to glare at Mr Quills, but instead it was her mother the one who entered.

“Lily!” she said, hurrying to her. “I’ve just heard! My poor darling!”

Derek stood up and let her mother hug her until she couldn’t breathe.

“How did you—”

“Quills came to look for you in my office,” she said. “The old fart!” She glanced at Derek and muttered, “Sorry,” in a way that let them know that she was not sorry at all.

“It’s alright,” replied Derek with a smile. “I’d have said worse if Lily hadn’t stopped me.”

“You’re not angry with me?” asked Lily meekly. “Because I’ve just quit my job?”

Her mother took a deep breath as she knelt in front of her. “Oh Lily,” she whispered before raising her voice. “Of course I’m not angry! An intelligent, resourceful young lady like yourself will find another job in a jiffy. And anybody will be lucky to have you.” She smiled gently. “Why don’t we get our things and bring our résumés to _Which Broomstick?_ I heard they were looking for columnists for their weekly articles on players under thirty.”

She looked at her mother, eyes wide. “ _Our_ résumés?”

“Of course,” she said, her voice becoming even louder. “I quit too. I cannot work for a man who has treated that apple of my eye in such a horrible way!”

Lily furrowed her brow as she looked at her mother. “Apple of your eye?”

“Yes, and we’ll ask your father to investigate on Quills,” she added. “Because of that shady business he’s doing with the Cambodians…”

Lily felt as if her eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets. “Investigate on…” Her words trailed away as the door was pushed open and Mr Quills, looking even paler than a few minutes before, walked inside.

“Oh, there you are, Lily,” he said, his voice slightly shaky. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“Cut the crap, Quills,” said her mother, standing up. “My daughter and I are leaving your dictatorial regime.”

He raised a hand near his face to stop her. “Please, Potter, you’re just as rush as your daughter. I don’t think—”

“I think you do,” she retorted. “Expect a letter from the Auror office in the same envelope that will contain our resignations.”

Mr Quills’ eyes seemed to bulge. “Now, now, now, Ginny, I don’t—”

“Don’t call me Ginny. I’m Mrs Potter to you,” she replied icily.

He swallowed loudly. “Mrs Potter, there’s no need to react this way,” he said. “You don’t want to—”

“Oh, I do.”

“You don’t even know—”

“Yes, I do! I know perfectly well what you did, you sneaky little bastard!”

Lily gasped out loud as her mother called her boss – ex-boss maybe was more appropriate – all sorts of names.

Mr Quills looked quite surprised, too. Weirdly enough, though, he didn’t seem angry. Probably he still had to come to terms with his employee calling him a _bastard_.

“You told my daughter that she would be made Quidditch correspondent after she had covered Lavender’s maternity leave,” she said, “and now you want to sack Lavender and keep her as the columnist, just because she is polite, intelligent, she writes well and has raised your sales.” She snorted. “You want to keep making money and are scared that once Lavender comes back, people are going to notice that the level of the column has dropped again.”

“I… I… I didn’t… I swear I…”

“But, you know what you didn’t think, you old dung brains?”

Mr Quills was staring at her mother with eyes wide and his mouth open.

“You didn’t think that if she’s so good with words that she can raise your sales with a stupid column that only teenagers and old ladies read, she will be able to do wonders for the sports page.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Double, maybe triple your sales. Not only you’d have Harry Potter’s star daughter writing for you, but she’d be damn good at what she does.”

Mr Quills’ expression was dumbstruck; there was no other word for it. He was staring at her mother with his mouth wide, while her words were slowly sinking into his brain.

Lily wanted to point out to her mother that her column was not read only by teenagers and old ladies, but at that moment it sounded idiotic.

Next to her, Derek’s hand searched for hers and he squeezed it gently. She glanced askew at him and saw that he was smiling subtly, as if he thought that his father was going to capitulate in front of her mother’s logic any second now.

Mr Quills wasn’t talking, though, he was still staring at her mother as if he didn’t have a clue what to reply to her.

“Well, we’re leaving,” her mother said in the end. “Lily, let’s go pick up our things—”

“No,” said Mr Quills, who seemed like a mannequin who had suddenly come to life. “You can’t leave.” He looked from her mother to Lily. “None of you can leave.”

“Of course we can, this is a free country,” said her mother haughtily.

“No, no, no,” coaxed Mr Quills. “My star Quidditch Correspondent and her future assistant will not leave my newspaper. Not now nor ever.”

Her mother raised her chin. “How much _future_ assistant?” she asked coldly.

“Well,” said Mr Quills chuckling in nervousness. “I used to stink at Divination—”

“How long before my daughter will be able to prove herself with what she likes?” her mother spelled out for Mr Quills.

“Soon, soon,” he replied nervously. “After Lavender comes back.”

“Right after she’s back.”

“ _Right_ after she’s back,” he repeated. “The day she’s here once again to bring joy and happiness to my life with her antics and her absurd requests and her never-ending chatting…”

“You don’t need to be sarcastic, Dad,” piped in Derek.

“No, no, I agree,” said Lily’s mother lightly. “She’s a pain. When is she coming back?”

“November,” sighed Mr Quills, nodding sadly.

“And Lily will be able to become my assistant the day she’s back.”

“The very same day,” agreed Mr Quills.

“And she’ll have her own office.”

Mr Quills pressed his lips together, unimpressed with her mother’s requests; nonetheless, he nodded.

“Well, then,” said her mother, her voice now amused. “I think we can stay and work here a bit longer. Don’t you think, Lily?”

Lily looked as her mother turned her head towards her and winked. Derek squeezed her hand again and Lily nodded, still too shocked to be able to do anything else. The tears from before seemed so far away now, all she could think about was her mother manipulating Mr Quills. “Right,” she replied throatily.

“Very well.” Her mother turned once again towards Mr Quills. “Then I believe that everything’s fine.”

Mr Quills straightened his back and gave her a pointed look. “I believe it is, Mrs Potter,” he said slowly.

“You can call me Ginny, Mr Quills,” said her mother calmly.

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t let the others know how you play me like a fiddle, _Ginny_ ,” he grunted.

“Of course I won’t,” she replied lightly. “I wouldn’t want anybody to take advantage of you.”

He glared at her and then pushed his hand into his pocket before drawing out Lily’s letters. “Here,” he said, walking to Lily with his hand outstretched. “I don’t think you should reply to Fruit Tart’s letter, though. Wouldn’t be wise to have it published.”

Lily shook her head as she took them. “No, I don’t think either.”

“Good, good.” He looked from his son to Lily to her mother. “Well, are you all on holiday? What are you standing stock-still for?” He added a good glare and finally turned on his heels and walked out of his son’s office.

Her mother let out the breath she was holding and turned. “There you go,” she said calmly. “He’s not a bad person; you just need to know how to talk to him.”

“Oh my God. You really played him like a fiddle, Mum,” said Lily in awe. “You need to teach me how you did it.”

Her mother gave her a severe look. “You should not speak like that to your boss,” she replied. “Never.” She raised her chin. “He was being irrational, and I simply helped him seeing the light, but you shall never speak like that to your boss, Lily, am I understood?”

Lily’s cheeks went up in flames as her mother reprimanded her in front of Derek. But she nodded demurely, since she had just saved Lily from being unemployed and having to look for a job.

“Good,” her mother said, “then I really think that everything is back to normal, right?” She waved her wand and Derek’s palette went back to its original state. “Here you go. I’m sorry we’ve disturbed you, Derek.”

He shook his head. “I’m happy to be of some comfort for Lily,” he said, squeezing her hand again. “And it was really interesting to see you handling my father like that. I’ve actually never seen anyone doing anything like that to him. You were great.”

“Thank you, Derek,” she said with a grin. “I should go and let you work now. Lily, you okay? Do you need to come into my office for a bit and talk about it?”

“I’m good, Mum, thanks,” she replied with a smile. “But if your invitation to dinner still stands, how about tomorrow night? I’ll tell Hugo.”

“Marvellous,” said her mother. “Have a lovely day, and you too, Derek.”

“Thank you, and you,” replied Derek.

“See you later, Mum, thanks.”

Her mother hummed and walked out of the office, closing the door gently at her back.

“Wow,” was the first thing that Derek said when they were alone. “That was phenomenal!” He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.

“I know, right?” said Lily. “She was bloody awesome. She knew your dad was eavesdropping and she let him hear what she was saying. And then? Honestly, I haven’t even thought to say all those things about me!” She titled her head thoughtfully. “I wonder what she meant with the Cambodians, though…”  

“No idea, but she is a journalist,” he said. “She has a way with words.”

Lily nodded. “Thank you for your support, Derek,” she grinned. “It was very appreciated.”

He smiled at her. “Thank you for coming to look for me when you needed support,” he said. “You made me feel important.” He stretched a hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and looked at her lips before smiling.

She hastily scrambled to her feet before he could try to initiate a kiss, though. “When are we meeting for the portrait?” she asked, her voice suddenly high-pitched.

He smiled again, but this time he looked rather abashed. “We said Thursday, right? Because you might not be here on Friday night and you’re busy with Hugo this weekend.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “You’re right. So, Thursday it is. Thank you, Derek, you’re the best.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek briefly before bolting for the door. She waved and walked out, feeling suddenly a horrible person for having eluded his kisses once again.

***

Lily didn’t reply to a single letter for the whole day. The shock of having almost resigned from her job finally caught up with her right after lunch, and she fell into a lethargy that had her dozing off on the sofa for most of the afternoon. Rufus was only happy to sleep on her belly, or cuddled at her side as she rolled over amongst the cushions.

When Hugo arrived, she was still sleeping and, apparently, he had the time to take a shower, feed Rufus and cook them dinner before waking her up with a plate of deliciously-smelling carbonara right under her nose.

She hummed as she opened her eyes and found him smiling at her from the place where he was crouching. “Long day?” he asked her gently.

She hugged the cushion that she had used as a pillow and nodded. “Yes,” she replied, “weird day too…”

“Can’t wait to hear everything about it,” he said. “Want to join me at the table? Or shall we eat on the sofa?”

She gave him a sheepish smile. “Sofa? I’m knackered, I swear.”

He furrowed his brow, but Summoned the other plate and the cutlery, and sat on the sofa next to her feet. She grabbed the back of the sofa and pushed herself up into a sitting position, withdrawing her feet to let him sit and then stretching them again until her toes disappeared under Hugo’s thighs.

“What happened?” he asked as he offered her a plate of pasta.

She took a deep breath and threw herself in the most detailed recount of that morning’s events. He listened to her in silence, but widened his eyes when she told him that she had literally quit her job and then got it back in less than twenty minutes, and all thanks to her mother’s awesome handling of the situation.

“She called him— _what_?” he asked in disbelief.

She nodded solemnly.

“And he just—”

“Begged us to take our jobs back.”

“And you’ll be Quidditch correspondent before the end of the year?” he asked with a smile, his voice thick with excitement.

She shrugged a shoulder and grinned. “Assistant Quidditch correspondent, but yeah…”

“If I get picked for the team—”

“ _When_ you get picked for the team,” she corrected, bringing a forkful of pasta to her mouth.

“ _When_ I get picked for the team,” he repeated, smiling fondly, “I only want you to interview me.”

“And I can’t wait to interview all those handsome, muscled, sweaty Quidditch players after their matches…” she giggled.

He cocked an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Not funny, you know…”

“I think it is,” she grinned. “Anyway, I’ll be assistant Quidditch correspondent; I think my mum will conduct the interviews at the beginning.” She glanced at Hugo. “Even though… maybe I can ask her if I can interview you… you know, just for practice.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! You should totally ask her.”

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you,” she added, swallowing some pasta. “We’re invited to dinner tomorrow evening.”

He furrowed his brow, his fork stopping in mid-air. “Invited by whom?”

“My mum,” she replied, “to Grimmauld Place. Just the two of us. Remember we talked about it? I told her tomorrow was a good day, is that okay?”

He swallowed and placed the fork back on the plate. “Just the two of us?” he asked softly.

She nodded. “Yeah, I think so. No Derek or Marie if that’s what you mean.”

He pushed his pasta around in his plate. “No Rose, Al or James?”

She shook her head. “Just us,” she said. “Unless you want me to tell her to invite—”

“No!” he cut her off, looking at her with eyes wide. “No, just us is good— _perfect_. Just us is perfect.”

She furrowed her brow as she looked at him. “Okay. I’ll let her know, then,” she replied slowly. “How was your day? Anything exciting happened at all?”

He seemed to relax a little as she changed the subject. “Not really,” he replied, finally bringing that fork to his mouth. “We were given the order and times for our trials next Tuesday. I’m the last one, no surprise there since they’re going alphabetically.”

“What time?”

“Five thirty,” he sighed. “But I’ll have to be there at eight in the morning to assist to all the other trials. It’s going to be a long day…”

“Oh man! That’s a long time!”

He nodded disconsolately.

“I’ll come with if you want me to,” she offered. “I don’t mind sitting there with you, distracting you, talking to you…”

He smiled at her. “Yeah, I think you’d distract me big time,” he said softly. “But alas, I won’t be seated on the terraces. I’ll be down in the pitch. You can come and watch my trials though. It would mean the world if you did.”

“Oh, Merlin, Hugo! But of course I’ll come to see your trials,” she said. “I’m bringing the banner, remember?”

“Oh God,” he sighed, closing his eyes.

She giggled at his consternated expression. “Oh come on! You’re going to love it! I solemnly swear.”

“Nothing too embarrassing,” he said seriously, cocking an eyebrow. “Promise me, Lily.”

She rolled her eyes and grinned. “Promise.” She placed her hand on her heart. “Can I write something sweet?”

He looked at her, probably trying to decide if she was joking. She looked at him as innocently as she could and he seemed to convince himself that she wasn’t. “Sweet like…?”

“Like me letting anybody know what a wonderful person you are,” she said sweetly, “and how much you mean to me.”

He stretched his hand and placed it on her knee, rubbing his thumb over her bone. “And how much is that?” he asked softly.

“Lots,” she replied, her breath hitching slightly as he ran his fingertips on her bare skin. “Lots and lots and lots…”

His blue eyes bored into hers, and suddenly Lily felt rather light-headed at how intensely he was staring at her. For a moment, she felt bared under his gaze. She thought that he could see past her defences and at all those unhealthy thoughts that she had had for him in the past few days. She lowered her eyes then, and jerked her knee away, not wanting him to see.

“Lily,” he said softly, and she took a sharp breath before looking back up at him. “You mean a lot to me too.”

She smiled at him, suddenly feeling her stomach in knots and her heart in her throat, suddenly not feeling very hungry at all. “Thanks. Let’s… let’s talk about next weekend,” she stammered. “We still need to decide what we are going to do.”

He focused back on his plate of pasta. “What do you want to do?” he asked as he brought another forkful to his mouth. “We can do anything you want, you know.”

“No, no, no,” she chanted. “ _You_ have to decide; it’s your weekend, the one where you relax and free your mind in preparation of your trials. We can stay here and have a three-day-long sleepover, we can go somewhere, or we can first laze here for a bit and then go somewhere… Anything you want. The important thing is that you relax, okay?”

“The important thing is that you’re with me,” he corrected her softly.

She couldn’t help smiling at him. “I love you,” she whispered.

“Love you right back, Lily.” He took a deep breath and added, “Any letters you need help with?”

“A few,” she replied. “Oh and you have to have a look at Lavender’s one! It’s unbelievable…”

***

Despite feeling incredibly happy after receiving the news that she would be definitely made assistant Quidditch correspondent before the end of the year, Lily couldn’t stop thinking about Lavender’s letter.

Lily wanted to believe that it wasn’t all Lavender’s fault if the woman had written such terrible things to her. Mr Quills had told her to prolong her maternity leave indefinitely, and Lavender had rightfully thought that she was going to lose her job. Of course she was going to lose her job, that had been Mr Quills’ plan all along. And what did she say about her husband cheating on her? All these things had piled up right after she had a child, too, when she was probably insecure about her body and scared as only a first time mum could be.

Lily went to the newsroom, dropped off the letters that Hugo had helped her reply to the night before, picked up the pile of new ones that she found on Lavender’s desk, and headed to her mother’s office.

“Mum,” she said without any preamble as she walked in. “Do you know where Lavender Finnigan lives?”

Her mother, who had been perched over a new article covered in red marks, looked up at her and furrowed her brow. “Beg your pardon?”

“Lavender Finnigan,” she repeated with a nod. “Do you know where she lives?”

“Why? Oh Lily, you don’t want to send her some kind of nasty reply to her letter, do you? She’s just upset. I’m sure she’s going to apologise the moment Quills reassures her that she’ll have her job back this November.”

Lily shook her head. “No, Mum, I just want to go and talk to her,” she said, “calmly and from woman to woman. I’m not even angry, I swear.” She sighed. “I’m just sorry for her.”

Her mother shook her head. “Oh yes, Lavender loves to hear that people are sorry for her,” she murmured. “But Lily, shouldn’t it be best to wait for Mr Quills to talk to her first.”

“No,” she replied firmly. “I want her to know that I’m sorry and that I have no intention of stealing her job. And that I have no problem believing that she’s much better than me at what she does.”

“Alright, I suspect that a little lie had never hurt anybody,” she said calmly, tilting her head as she looked at Lily.

“Mum!” exclaimed Lily, but she couldn’t help giggling in happiness. “You really think so?”

“Of course I do,” she replied. “I’ve read each and every single one of your replies, and they were insightful, intelligent, and witty. Whilst when Lavender was writing, I couldn’t get past the first few lines without rolling my eyes.”

“Thank you, Mum,” she said. “Hugo helps me a lot, though, you know?”

“When does he find the time? He’s out playing all day.”

“In the evening, and sometimes during his lunch break,” she said, her voice breathy again as she talked about her cousin. “He always wants me to write the best answer and we often work together to find it.”

Her mother looked at her seriously for a few moments, looking as if she was trying hard to understand how to phrase what she wanted to say next. “Lily,” she said earnestly. “I wish you’d talk about Derek the way you talk about Hugo, you know.”

Lily took a fistful of seconds to understand what her mother was saying, but when she did, she schooled her face to look surprised and almost outraged at her assumption.

In reality, she felt exposed and rather upset that her mother would suggest that Lily harboured feelings for Hugo.

“What?” she babbled. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mum. I… I just have a close relationship with my cousin, is it a crime perhaps? We live together and it’s only logical to grow even closer, especially when you get along that well and when… when… And I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Honestly!”

Her mother looked at her as if she was certain that her daughter knew perfectly well what she was talking about. Nonetheless, she let the subject drop, probably sensing a scene coming from her daughter if she insisted, and asked instead, “What time are you two coming tonight?”

Lily took a deep breath. “Seven,” she croaked out, her mouth dry.

“Your father and I are looking forward to it.”

“Yeah,” she replied softly. “We are, too.”

***

Somehow, after she had gotten Lavender’s address from her mother, Lily seemed to have lost her determination to go and talk to her. Instead, she spent the day replying to letters, cuddling Rufus, and browsing the newest issue of Witch Weekly for inspiration on how to relax before an important event. Instead, she only found ideas for romantic gateways and the top ten best magic-driven sex toys currently on sale in specialised shops. She bet her wand that Uncle George and Uncle Ron’s shop was one of those.

She threw Witch Weekly away and tried to think hard about what to do to relax Hugo. Honestly, all that came to her mind was snorkelling. She really did want to go to the beach and snorkel the weekend away, but so far, Hugo seemed more inclined to do literally nothing in those few days that preceded his trials, since every time she had asked, he had replied with a, “What do _you_ want to do?”

Of course, Lily knew that that was not going to happen. She knew that he would have to do something. He was level-headed like his mother, and lazing about for a whole weekend didn’t sound like a sensible solution before something as important as the trials. Furthermore, like that, he wouldn’t have stopped thinking about the trials – what with him being genetically prone to overthinking and worrying about stuff.

They had to do something that would distract him. She had to organise something that was so much fun that he wouldn’t have time to think about anything at all but at what they were doing at that very moment. She also had to find some activity that would relax him and make him happy. Oh, yes. She didn’t know what that was yet, but she was going to organise the best and most relaxing weekend ever.

***

Lily was wearing a black dress, all voiles and not too short, perfect for an evening at Grimmauld Place with her parents. Hugo was wearing shorts and a vintage t-shirt with the Weird Sisters’ logo on the front. His hair was still wet from the shower he had taken when he got home, and the two of them looked rather neat and cute – if Lily could say so herself.

They walked to Florean Fortescue’s – whose owner now probably considered them their most important clients – to buy some ice-cream, and then Hugo tucked her under his arm and Apparated the two of them in the little park opposite the main gate of her parents’ house.

She stepped forward to undo the Fidelius Charm, but Hugo’s hand on her shoulder prevented her from focusing on the spell.

“You promise it’s just us, right?” he muttered, his voice thick with discomfort.

She furrowed her brow as she glanced at him askew. “Just you and me, my mum and my dad,” she confirmed. “Why?”

He shook his head. “I just… I don’t want to talk to tons of people,” he replied vaguely. “Just before… before the trials, I mean.”

“Oh, you’re already worrying?” she asked with concern. “Don’t, Hugo. Don’t think about them. Think about the delicious dinner that my mum has cooked for us, about the Butterbeers that we’ll drink with my dad, the chatting we’ll do with the elderly couple, and all those things that—what?”

He was laughing now. “The elderly couple would be your parents?”

“Yes, and don’t tell them I said that!” she giggled, nodding. “Or they’re going to degrade me to third favourite child, right after James and Al. Atrocious.”

He laughed even more heartily at that, and then bent a bit over to squeeze her in a hug. “Thank you, Lily. You always know what to say to make me feel better,” he whispered. “You’re fantastic.” He planted a kiss on her cheek and let her go.

“I know,” she replied, sticking out her tongue. “Now, let me focus.”

A few seconds later, 12 Grimmauld Place stood fiercely in front of them and they were knocking on the big wooden door, despite the fact that Lily still had the front-door key.

“I feel nervous,” muttered Hugo under his breath.

“Why?” asked Lily, glancing at him. “It’s just my parents.”

“I don’t know why, I just do…”

She wanted to tell him that he was being silly, that there was nothing to be nervous about, but then again… What if he was talking about something that had happened on Saturday night? When he had come home all covered in bruises. Her father probably knew something that Hugo didn’t want to tell her… He was there, after all. Perhaps not during the fight itself, but he definitely must have known something. She made a mental note to ask her father about it in case she managed to get him alone.

“Aww, if it isn’t my favourite daughter and one of my favourite nephews,” cooed her father as he opened the door. “You’re beautifully on time. Always like this when there’s a free meal involved, right?”

“Please, Dad,” said Lily, standing on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “We’re here to see you and mum. We weren’t even thinking about food.”

Hugo shrugged a shoulder as he hugged his uncle in a manly way. “I was,” he replied truthfully. “Well, I’m happy to see you, too, but I’m looking forward to eating Auntie Ginny’s wonderful food as well.”

“My daughter doesn’t feed you, does she, Hugo?” asked her dad with a wink.

“No, Dad, this isn’t 1999. Men are all slaves to women, nowadays. In fact, Hugo feeds me, not the other way round,” said Lily, as she walked towards the kitchen. “Hi Mum! This smells delicious. We’ve got ice-cream from Florean Fortescue’s, Dad’s favourite flavours. Oh, are those stuffed pancakes?”

“With cheese and ham,” she confirmed, lowering her head to let Lily kiss her cheek while her hands were busy manoeuvring a big casserole into the oven.

“My favourites,” she giggled, trying to scoop up some béchamel with her finger before the oven door closed.

Her mother slapped her hand away before Lily could even reach them, though. “Oh really,” she said cheekily. “I had no idea.”

“Hi, Auntie Ginny,” greeted Hugo, as he walked into the kitchen as well, his voice slightly meeker than Lily expected.

“Hello, Hugo,” her mother replied, giving him a sharp look. “Are you alright?”

He nodded, and blushed a little under her steady gaze. “Yeah, I… Thank you for having us over for dinner.”

“My pleasure,” she replied quietly. “So, are you anxious about next week?”

“Muuum!” sighed Lily.

“What?”

“He doesn’t want to talk about it,” she explained. “Of course, he’s anxious, but there’s no need to think about the trials before their time comes.”

Hugo smiled awkwardly. “It’s alright, Lily,” he soothed her. “Yeah, I’m a bit… nervous, you know. Everybody is. Today’s trainings were the quietest yet. We all just kept thinking about next week.”

“I remember my trials,” her mother said, nodding and finally smiling at Hugo as she started her stroll down memory lane. “I became insufferable… what? A week before them, Harry?”

He coughed, “A month,” and coughed a bit more.

“Don’t exaggerate,” her mother protested, rolling her eyes. “A week or two before them. I couldn’t sleep, I didn’t eat, and I found any excuse to jump down my friends’ throats.” 

“And mine,” pointed out her father. “And Ron’s.”

“But then you aced your trials, Auntie Ginny, didn’t you?” said Hugo, looking at her with eyes wide. “The Harpies loved you and they paid you handsomely to play for them.”

“Yeah,” she admitted, “and all because Uncle Harry took me away the week before my trials.”

Lily’s ears perked up at that piece of information. “Oh, where did he take you? I want to take Hugo somewhere too, but he’s not helping in deciding where to go,” she said.

“Lily, I told you, we can also stay home, I don’t mind…”

“And I told you that you need to relax, right Mum?” When she looked at her mother though, she was exchanging a glance with her father. “What?” asked Lily, looking from one parent to the other.

“Nothing,” said her mother quickly, looking at her once more. “Lily is right, Hugo, you should go away for a bit. Relax, don’t think about the trials, do something that you enjoy.”

“Where did Dad take you?”

“Up north,” she replied. “We went hiking in the Lake District for a week. Just us, our tents, and our sleeping bags. It was very romantic. I’m not even sure we had wands with us. Did we, Harry?”

“We didn’t,” he replied. “And we didn’t even tell your parents. Your mother almost had a heart attack.”

Lily and Hugo chuckled at that, but her mother chastised them immediately. “It was very irresponsible of us,” she said. “Don’t you dare disappearing like we did.”

“Well, but even if we did,” said Lily sensibly, “you’d already know where we are, right? Because you gave us the idea.”

“Oh Merlin! Hugo, don’t tell your mother that we were the ones who gave you the idea of disappearing somewhere secluded for days; otherwise she’s going to flip out on us,” said her dad.

The oven finally rang and when her mother opened it the delicious smell of savoury stuffed pancakes wafted into Lily’s nostrils and she took a deep, nice sniff of it, humming in delight.

“Alright, go sit down, you three,” said her mother with a grin. “I’ll be right there.”

“Do you need help, Auntie?” asked Hugo softly.

“No, don’t you worry, Hugo. Uncle Harry will help me. You go and sit down.”

Hugo and Lily nodded and made their way to the dining room, where the long table had been set for four people. “This looks so formal for an intimate dinner,” said Lily with a chuckle as she sat where her name was scribbled on a piece of parchment.

“Yeah,” he replied, sitting across from her.

“So you want to go to the Lake District? Without wands? Sounds… adventurous, doesn’t it?” said Lily, swallowing loudly.

He looked at her, a grin over his face. “I’d love to,” he confessed, “but I don’t think you’d like it.”

“No, no… I’d love it too… I swear… I’m adventurous… solemnly swear…”

He smiled at her, but before he could reply, her parents were making their way into the dining room.

“So, Lily, your mother told me about Lavender’s letter,” said her father as he sat down. “Have you gone to talk to her yet?”

Lily shook her head. “I wanted to go today, but then I wasn’t sure what to tell her, to be honest,” she admitted before looking at Hugo. “What do you think I should do?”

Hugo thanked her mother for the stuffed pancakes that she was placing in front of him, and then looked at Lily. “You’re going to talk to Lavender? I… You didn’t tell me.”

She nodded. “I thought about it this morning, I asked my mum for her address, but then I realised that I don’t know what to tell her exactly.”

Hugo furrowed his brow as he focused. “I think you should be honest with her, and calm, and be prepared for some nasty remarks from her part; especially if Mr Quills hasn’t Floo Called her yet to assure her that she’s still working for the Prophet,” he said sensibly. “But you have to explain to her the situation, how things actually went and—hey, wait a second.” He looked at her father and furrowed his brow. “I thought your dad didn’t know about your job.”

Lily blinked stupidly before looking at her father first and then her mother, her face probably a mask of horror. “Oh God!” she groaned.

“Don’t worry, Lily, dear; I’m an Auror, I might have gathered that you weren’t actually writing about Quidditch yet when—”

“Mum! You told him!”

“I had to, Lily,” she sighed. “He was pestering me about what pieces you’ve written and if he could read them and when they’d be published…”

Lily hid her face in her hands. “So embarrassing,” she groaned. “You didn’t read them, did you?”

“Each and every single one of them,” replied her father with a pride that Lily thought it shouldn’t have occurred in his voice. “Some were really… hem… interesting.”

She swallowed as she thought about the letters that Mr Quills didn’t want to publish. “Hugo helps me answering them most of the times.”

“Just some,” Hugo hurried to say. “Not all of them.”

“Most,” said Lily, looking at him fondly. “Don’t belittle yourself.”

He glanced at her askew, his eyes wide, but she didn’t understand why he wanted to keep his hard work secret until her father spoke again.

“What kind of letters do you help her with?” he asked, his voice as hard as if he was conducting one of his interrogations to a first class dark wizard.

Hugo glared at Lily and then turned to look at him. “The silliest ones,” he replied, his voice throaty. “You know, what kind of recipe do I need to impress my fiancé’s parents who are coming to visit? Or how do I get rid of pimples? What should I do if I don’t feel comfortable at a party?”

Her father nodded, but his gaze was still hard as he stared at Hugo. As if his Auror senses were tingling and he could sense that there was something that Hugo wasn’t saying.

Lily took a sharp breath and stuffed her mouth with the boiling hot pancake before jabbering, “So how’s work, Dad? Anything interesting happened?”

That broke the eye contact between the two men, and finally her father seemed to relax once more. He looked at her and smiled protectively. Then threw himself in an exciting retelling of his latest few cases, but Lily was only half listening to him: her head was lost between thoughts of Lavender, and her weekend with Hugo.

***

Lavender Finnigan née Brown lived in a cottage on the outskirts of Oxford, and everything, from the flowers in her garden, to the fence surrounding it, to the walls of the house, was a bright pink colour. To add to the place tackiness, there was a gigantic heart that spelled ‘Welcome’ hanged on the door, ceramic cats that welcomed the guests on the steps that brought up to the front door, and a fountain covered in stone-carved little cupids.

It looked like a house out of a fairy tale. One of those cottages where the evil hag usually lived and where everything looked nice, sweet, and perfect to attract the unaware children before… _zap!_ grabbing them and eating them in one mouthful.

Lily shook her head to send those thoughts away and pushed the little wooden gate open. As she followed the path, she tried to remember what Hugo had told her the night before. No, not the part where he had groaned that he was sure that her father suspected that he had done something to her. She had asked him what on earth he was talking about – he had done something _to_ her? –, and he just shook his head disconsolately, looking rather abashed. She told him to sleep in her bed, then, and he accepted gladly and she let him hold her through the night.  

He had said something else before that. He said that she had to be calm, honest, and tell Lavender things as they were. And to be prepared to hear some nasty remarks.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the pink door. Honestly, had that woman no good taste whatsoever?

She waited a few minutes and then knocked again. Oh, man! What if she wasn’t home? Had she Apparated all the way to Oxford for nothing? What if Lavender was at the newsroom to talk to Mr Quills right now? Should she leave a note? Should she wait for Lavender to be back? What if her husband was home before her? What could Lily said to him?

As she thought all these things, she heard someone shuffling about in their slippers finally coming to open the door.

She plastered a smile over her face and raised her eyes to meet the gaze of whoever would open the door.

“Coming, coming,” said a chirping voice as the key was turned in the hole. “Don’t go away, whoever you are, I’ve just—oh!” Lavender’s face was a mix of surprise and dread as she stared at Lily. Certainly, she hadn’t expected Lily to come to see her at her house. Probably, she was afraid that Lily was there to initiate an altercation.

“Hello, Lavender,” said Lily as gently and as politely as she could.

“Oh,” the woman replied, her voice throaty. “Hello, Lily. Hello. Hi. What a lovely surprise! What… what are you doing here? All the way to Oxford! Oh my!”

“I came to visit you,” she replied sweetly. “Can I come in?”

Lavender swallowed. Honestly, she looked as if she was afraid that Lily would hex her or something. She glanced inside and then back at Lily. “I… I’ve just put my son down for his nap… he’s…”

“Oh, I’ll only be a minute, I promise.”

Lavender looked at her with her eyes wide, finally, she nodded and stepped back to let her in. Lily couldn’t help noticing how much Lavender’s hands were shaking as she passed by.

“Come,” said Lavender, her voice a bit shaky, too. “Would you like a cup of tea? Or some ice-tea, maybe? It’s hot today. Boy, and it seems as if it’s getting hotter, too…”

“Some ice-tea would be lovely, thank you,” said Lily as she followed her in a living room covered in pictures of cats and hearts. She sat on a fluffy sofa, amongst furry cushions and stared as Lavender went to fetch a couple of tall glasses of ice-tea.

“Thank you,” repeated Lily as she was handed a glass of disgustingly sweet peach ice-tea.

“No problem, no problem at all,” babbled Lavender. “So how’s the job going on? I’m afraid I haven’t had time to read the column, but you know… with a child and a family and life… life’s treating me well, you know… oh yes, I’m happy. Happier than ever. I’m even starting to lose my baby weight. You know? I used to be thin as you are, when I was young, but once you get older and have babies… oh well! You’ll see, don’t you worry, you’ll see. With those Weasley genes, you’ll pop out more children than you’ll probably want… But how about you? Everything’s well at the newspaper I hope…”

Lily nodded and smiled to each and every single one of her words, and then waited for her to stop talking – something that took some long, interminable minutes – before drawing out the letter from her bag.

“Lavender,” she said, as the woman sipped nervously from her glass. “I got your letter.”

Lavender choked on the big ice cube she had swallowed by mistake. “My letter?” she coughed. “What letter? No, no, you’re probably mistaken, dear. I didn’t remember sending any letter. Nope. No, no. Nein. Non. Niet.”

Lily furrowed her brow. “Lavender, we know this is your letter.” She opened it and showed to her the parts where she had slipped and used the first person.

“No, no, this is from _An Unsatisfied Reader_ ,” she said, pointing at the signature. “That’s not my name. My name is Lavender Finnigan. See? It doesn’t even sound the same.”

Lily bit down hard on her lip. This was going to be more difficult than she had envisioned. “Listen, I just want you to know that the moment you come back from your maternity leave, you’ll have your job back,” she said gently. “Literally, the same day you decide to get back to the newspaper, I’ll give the keys to your office back to you, and wish you all the luck of the world with your job.”

Lavender looked at her, blue eyes wide and lips parted. “I… I…” she babbled before closing her mouth and looking sternly at her. “It’s the best job in the world, you know,” she said sourly. “There’s no need to sound so eager to leave it.”

Now it was Lily’s time to look at her with eyes wide. “I’m not eager to leave it,” she lied. “It’s just that it’s not what I want to do. I want to write about Quidditch, like my mum, that’s all…”

Lavender raised her chin. “Well, apparently—from what I heard… from people—you’re not to write about Quidditch for a few years…” Her nostrils flared. “Apparently, Quills thinks that you’re much more qualified than me to write letters to the poor lovesick readers of the Prophet.”

“No, yes, I know what he thought,” she replied. “But Mr Quills changed his mind. Yesterday, actually. He said that nobody is as qualified as you are for the job.”

Lavender pressed her lips together, looking rather unconvinced. “Did he?”

Lily nodded enthusiastically. “Yes,” she said. “His actual words. And I couldn’t agree more. I’m just an apprentice, and I don’t know much about life anyway. I’m only eighteen. And I’ve never even tried to steal your job. I swear.”

She looked at her with her lips slightly curved into a soft smile. “Well, I read some of your letters,” she admitted. “They weren’t that bad… some of them were really… quite interesting.”

“Thank you,” beamed Lily.

“And I’m sorry that Unsatisfied Reader wrote those terrible things,” she muttered, nodding. “I’m sure she had a good motivation, but probably she had been misled in her reasoning.”

“That’s alright, no need to apologise,” said Lily, nodding back. “And by the way… I’m sorry about your husband…”

Lavender waved a hand in front of Lily to dismiss her worries. “Oh, it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last,” she said, “but he always comes back to me and every time he comes back he gets me more and more expensive jewels, so it’s a win-win.”

Lily blinked, as Lavender showed her the gigantic diamond ring she was wearing.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she giggled. “This was for New Year’s, when I found him tied to the bedpost with Dean whipping his pale butt so deliciously.” She giggled again. “Don’t tell this to anybody, but I’ve taken to invite Dean every Wednesday for Wizard’s Chess in the hope that my husband keeps falling back into that.” She winked and her plump bosom was shaken by a not-so-subtle laugh. “And he never disappoints. I’ve already told him that I want a tiara encrusted with rubies this time, and it should arrive this evening with a bunch of flowers and a bottle of champagne.”

“I’m sorry, Dean who?” asked Lily, furrowing her brow.

“Dean Thomas, of course!” she said. “The famous painter.”

“But that’s my mum’s ex-boyfriend!”

“Oh yes, I guess I forgot,” replied Lavender airily. “I’m pretty sure he was screwing my husband even when he was with her.” She shook her head and giggled again. “Anyway, tell me everything about you, Lily. I sense you’re having some relationship problems, aren’t you?”

Lavender said that so suddenly and matter-of-factly that Lily was speechless for a long moment afterwards. When she finally managed to find her voice again, it was throaty and definitely shaky. “I… No… not at all…”

Lavender cocked an eyebrow. “I am good at my job, Lily,” she said calmly. “Despite what everybody thinks: I understand what’s going on with someone before they even understand that there’s something going on at all.”

Lily swallowed. “Well, I… I wouldn’t call them ‘relationship problems’ really, maybe… maybe just like… You know, just some ‘relationship speed bumps’…”

Lavender cocked an eyebrow and Lily suddenly felt the urge to pour her heart out to her. “It’s just that there’s a guy who likes me… I think. I mean, I’m quite sure that he likes me, but I… I don’t like him that way… I think… I think I like someone else, but it’s someone I can’t… I mean, he’s my best friend and we have this awesome relationship and I really don’t want to complicate stuff between us. And he doesn’t like me that way, I mean, he’s really affectionate and everything, but he doesn’t… I mean, he just doesn’t… you know…”  

Lavender nodded seriously. “Well, let me tell you something,” she said matter-of-factly. “It feels to me as if you’re overthinking the situation, aren’t you?”

“I don’t—”

“And I’m afraid to have to tell you that your brain doesn’t understand anything about love. Not a single thing. In fact, you have to rely only on your heart when it’s up to love and relationships: he’s the expert.” She nodded slowly. “If you want to be happy, you have to listen to your heart, always.”

“Oh,” was all she could comment. “I… thank you… I think I should go now, but… thank you…”

Lavender nodded. “And remember, always your heart, never your brain.”

Lily stood up. “Thank you,” she repeated. “I… I guess…”

Lavender nodded again as she ushered Lily to the door. “Good luck,” she chirped. “See you in November.”

“See you,” said Lily, as she walked out. Then the door closed at her back and she was left out there alone with her tormented thoughts about Derek and Hugo and what her heart was telling her she should do.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three little announcements: 
> 
> 1\. We have our 150th comment!! Kelly was the lucky one and she sent me her prompt via e-mail. She wants it to be a surprise for you guys, and I think it's awesome. I want you to know that I love her prompt and that I already know what to write, the title, how to tag it, etc.. I can hardly wait to write it!
> 
> 2\. When I edited this chapter, I didn't particularly like it, but now that I re-read it - for the umpteenth time!!! - I kind of really liked it. But guys, hope you're ready for some intense scenes coming soon.
> 
> 3\. We're having a long weekend in Italy and my best-friend is coming to visit me, so Saturday posting schedule might change a little. The chapter might either come earlier in the morning or later in the evening. It might also not change at all - the weather forecasts aren't stellar, and we might just stay at home watching films all day (hope not, though!). Just wanted to give you a heads up! ♥
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> Enjoy the chapter! Love you all! xx

***

As Lily discovered, being painted was a very good moment to analyse one’s life. Even though, she was probably being incredibly rude to Derek, who kept talking to her and trying to initiate a conversation while she just replied with vague hums, soft smiles, and distracted nods. In her defence, she was thinking about Derek, too, amongst other things, so he shouldn’t feel annoyed if she didn’t reply to him.

Of course, Derek didn’t know that Lily was thinking about him, and Lily didn’t want him to know either, especially since he was constantly referred to as the “other guy” in all of her thoughts, and he always came out defeated every time she compared him to Hugo.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t her fault, and she wasn’t being difficult or mean towards Derek. No. It was just that…

Well, first of all, did Derek make the butterflies in her stomach flutter their wings uncontrollably until she felt as if her guts were taking off? No, they just vaguely stirred, and she had to be very focused to feel them at all. Did Hugo? Oh God. _Yes_.

Did Derek know her? Well, kind of. He knew the Lily that she wanted him to know. He knew her actual job, which was more she could say for most of the people in her life, and he knew that… that she liked clothes. And that she liked to eat. Yes. He knew these things. Did Hugo know her? Shit, shit, shit. He had known her ever since they were babies and he knew everything about her. Every detail of her life: he knew what she liked, he knew what she wanted, he knew how she felt even before she knew herself. He could read her like a book.

Did she know Derek? Yeah, if she focused hard, she could almost make a list of things that she knew about Derek. He was an artist, he was the son of her boss, he was good at drawing – which was probably the same as saying that he was an artist –, he was a good cook… he was… he was… Surely, she knew more things about him that now didn’t come to mind. Did she know Hugo? Yes. She knew everything about him. She knew that his favourite Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Bean was coconut, and that he lost his front teeth when he fell off the roof of the Burrow when he was six and was trying to emulate James and Fred as they jumped from a shingle to another. She knew that his biggest dream was to become a professional Quidditch player, that Lily had been the first girl to give him head, but that he had gone down on all of her girlfriends, and that the 5th August was the day he had anal sex for the first time… Oh God! She knew definitely too much about him. And yet, she strived to know even more. She was mad at him because he would keep secrets from her. She wanted to know everything about him. She needed to know everything about him.

Did she love Derek? Oh, love was such a big word. She thought he was a great guy: he was handsome and every girl would be lucky to have him. She was sure about that… Yes, yes… Every girl. Did she love Hugo? Merlin. She couldn’t even start to describe how much she—

“You seem completely and utterly lost in thought,” said Derek suddenly, a vague amusement in his voice. “I’ve almost finished here, by the way.” He put down the palette and then dunked the brush he had used into a glass filled with dirty water. “For today, I mean,” he added. “I still have to paint the light, but I’ll need to wait for the painting to dry.”

“I’m sorry if I was so quiet today, Derek,” said Lily meekly. “You’re right, I was lost in thought.”

He nodded gently at her. “I’m sure you were, what with all the things that happened in these few days.”

“Uh?” She furrowed her brow.

“Between my father being an old fart, Lavender’s nasty letter, you going to confront her,” he said. “I think you’re being definitely brave.”

She looked at him and smiled sadly. How much easier everything would be if he was at least a bit of a jerk. She wouldn’t feel the remorse that she felt now for not being into him at all. “Thank you, Derek,” she murmured.

“I think that next time I should be able to finish it,” he went on, smiling. “Just one more sitting. Do you think you can manage?”

“What?” She opened her eyes wide. From his tone he made it sound as if she was asked to sit through some kind of torture. “Of course, of course, I… I wasn’t bored or anything, Derek, I was just… just thinking…”

He nodded in understanding. “When do you want to meet again?” he asked gently. “Am I right to remember that you’re busy this weekend?”

“Yes, I’m… I’m sorry, I promised Hugo to stay with him…” she murmured. “And I’m busy on Monday too, and on Tuesday, you know… that’s the day of the trials.”

“Wednesday?” asked Derek promptly.

“I should be free,” she replied softly, trying to suffocate a sigh. She did want to see the finished portrait, after all. “Wednesday, same time as today?”

“It’s a date,” he said, smiling in that way that always made Lily fear for a kiss. Therefore, she hurried to his side, stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek and whispered a, “Thank you,” so that any attempt from his part to a more intimate connection between the two of them would be smothered before it had even started. He smiled gently and ushered her to the door, all the while talking and explaining to her what he still needed to do in order to finish the portrait. She didn’t understand anything, but she nodded nonetheless, trusting him.

“Say good luck to Hugo from me,” said Derek as she walked out of his flat.

“I will,” she replied. “He’s really quite nervous, you know.”

“I bet he is, but I’m sure that everything will be alright,” he said.

“Yeah,” murmured Lily. “I’ll let you know how it goes.” She waved and smiled politely as she walked away and towards the Apparition point near his building.

***

The stadium was quiet. As quiet as Lily had never seen it. The only noises were the bangs of the bats against the Bludgers, or the thumps of the Quaffles when they hit the hoops instead of going through them.

The players looked lost in their own private worlds. They all seemed to stare in front of them with a blank expression, thinking probably about the fact that that was their last day of trainings, that the trials were in four days, and that soon they might not be playing with the person flying next to them at that very moment.

Lily sat on the highest terraces, wearing a colourful top and a pair of shorts, waving every time someone she knew flew by. Only one or two people nodded, though. The others merely looked through her as if she was part of the landscape.

Hugo as well. He was always looking at the Bludgers, trying to focus on the way he swung his bat to hit those wayward balls. He didn’t even notice Lily, but the good thing was that he didn’t even seem to notice Marie either, nor Marie seemed to do anything to want to attract his attention that day. She was probably worried too, and Lily couldn’t help rejoicing at that. She was also fervently hoping that Marie wouldn’t pass the trials so that she wouldn’t have to play with Hugo anymore.

Oh yes, that was such a sweet thought that Lily found herself smiling without even noticing.

She was suddenly snapped out of her sweet reverie when one of the coaches whistled the end of the morning trainings. The players too seemed to start and they all began to flow slowly towards the ground. Hugo still didn’t seem to notice her.

She finally stood up and waved. “Hugo! Hugo!” she called loudly, wondering if she needed to amplify her voice to make him hear her. He honestly seemed to be on another planet. “Hugo!” she called again, louder.

He stopped and turned and, for a moment, he seemed to search the terraces for her. When he saw her, she was happy to see that a grin split his face into two. He steered his broom in her direction and flew quickly to where she was standing.

“I thought I had to use an Amplifying Charm to get your attention,” huffed Lily.

He jumped down his broom and came to stand in front of her. “I didn’t expect you to come today,” he said, smiling, “but I’m so happy to see you.”

She smiled back. “We need to talk, Hugo,” she said. “Can we go and have lunch at the river?”

“That sounds serious,” he replied, furrowing his brow. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“That would require that we’re together,” she grinned, shaking her head amusedly. “So, I’d say no. But we need to talk about this weekend, don’t we?”

He nodded and sighed contently. “Yes, _our_ weekend, far away from everything and everybody.”

“Not that far if we don’t decide something,” she pointed out. “We need to talk about it. Where we want to go; what we want to do…”

“You’re right. Give me five minutes? I’ll take a quick shower, change and get my lunch.”

“I’ll wait for you at the door,” she agreed.

He winked. “See you in a bit.” Then he jumped on his broom again, and flew down towards the changing rooms without wasting any time.

***

River Piddle was quiet and rather coldish and humid in that late August day. There seemed to be more ducks than last time, and Lily stopped to stare at two males as they fought quite violently for Merlin knew what since there was no female anywhere nearby.

They walked to the little beach where they had lunch the last time she was here, and sat on a couple of smooth rocks as they took out their lunch.

“A salad?” asked Lily horrified as she stared at the plastic bowl that Hugo placed in his lap. “How are you supposed to have enough carbs to keep playing for the whole afternoon?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “This has potatoes, tuna, and coleslaw inside, it’s filled with carbs,” he replied calmly. “But kudos for knowing that you need carbs to do any kind of activity.”

“I’m not a complete ignorant, you know,” she replied sourly as she started to unwrap her sandwich. “I do know stuff.”

“No, I know,” he replied gently. “I just didn’t think you’d be interested in this kind of information.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. “You’re so, so, so intelligent.” He kissed her hair and leant his cheek against her head. “You do know that, right?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, but you can keep saying it, you know…”

“You’re so intelligent,” he went on, “so witty, so clever, so—”

“Alright,” she stopped him, straightening her back and wriggling free from his arm. “That’s enough, thank you. Now let’s talk about this weekend.” She glanced at him askew. “I have a feeling that you don’t want to talk too much about it, and I don’t know why.” She furrowed her brow. “If you don’t want to spend all your time with me, it’s perfectly fine, you know. We can go to some park and have a walk one afternoon, and then you can go out with… someone else, or you can have a guys’ night out with my brothers…”

He looked at her with a surprised expression over his face, as if he hadn’t expected that comment at all. Well, what else could it have been, then? Why was he always so ready to postpone their talks?

“Lily,” he said her name so seriously that she felt a shiver running down her spine. “I am so incredible happy that you want to spend all the weekend with me—”

“But?” she murmured.

“No, there’s no but,” he said. “I’m happy, that’s all. I just don’t really know what I want to do most. I wouldn’t mind staying in our flat just doing nothing for three days,” he went on, “but I don’t want you to get bored. And going somewhere would be neat too, you know… maybe up north, like your parents did. Or maybe…” He looked at her and smiled. “…snorkelling somewhere. Greece, since Rose has gone on and on about it, and prices are good… Of course, we’re talking about tomorrow, so we need to take a decision… uhm… now?”

“That’s why I’m here,” she pointed out. “And I wouldn’t get bored in our flat with you for three days, but I don’t want you to keep thinking about the trials. I want you to relax, do something else…”

He shrugged a shoulder. “We could play games,” he said. “Wizard’s Chess, Exploding Snap, Spin the Butterbeer Bottle—”

“Hugo!” she giggled.

He chuckled too. “What? I could show you my Divination skills as I guess who the bottle is going to point to…”

She stuck out her tongue before biting down on her sandwich. He opened his salad and took a forkful too. They ate in silence for a bit before Lily turned to look at him again. “We could rent a cottage up in the Lake District. Where my parents went. The Lake District must be gorgeous and a cottage is much less adventurous than a tent,” she said. “I could go to TerrorTours, this afternoon, see if they have any last minute deals.”

“You sure you’d rather not go to Greece?” he asked. “Snorkelling, sunbathing, swimming…”

She bit her bottom lip, completely and utterly undecided. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “To be honest, they both sound pretty interesting.” She sighed. “Anyway, one night or two?”

“One,” he replied. “I’m a bit short on Galleons until I actually start working.”

“Oh don’t be silly,” she said. “I’ll buy.”

He looked at her. “Now who’s being silly?” he grumbled. “That’s out of the question. You’re not going to pay for me as well.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’re not going to be any less of a man if you let a girl pay for you once,” she giggled. “You’ll pay next time.”

“No, Lily, we’ll share,” he said firmly. “Either that or I’m not going anywhere.”

“Oh, you’re so melodramatic,” she sighed. “Listen, can’t I treat you? Just for fun.”

“No,” he grunted, placing the salad in his lap and folding his arms across his chest.

“Come on,” she coaxed, “don’t be a child.”

“I’m not a child, you are!”

She grinned as she wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him. “Come on,” she repeated, “let the future assistant Quidditch correspondent of the Daily Prophet treat the future star of Puddlemere United to a relaxing weekend. In return to have all the exclusives with you right after the most important matches…”

He cocked an eyebrow and looked down at her. “You know you already have that,” he pointed out.

“Then shut up and let me thank you for allowing me to be the only one who will interview you,” she whispered. She got closer to him and pressed her lips to his neck, kissing his heated skin. She could feel him melt in her arms. She kissed him again, trailing kisses down towards his collarbone.

“Not fair,” he panted out.

“What?” she asked softly.

“You’re distracting me,” he said breathlessly. “And this feels so good…”

She giggled against his chest and finally tilted her head back. “So I’ll go to TerrorTours this afternoon, okay?”

“Okay,” he murmured, smiling.

“And book us something that I’ll decide and pay.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “But can we keep it to ourselves? I don’t want people to think that you pay for me all the time.”

“But I don’t.”

“Exactly, and can we keep it that way?”

“Of course,” she giggled. “But there’s nothing wrong with letting a girl pay for you.”

“I know,” he said hastily. “Anyway, the moment I get my first salary I’ll buy you the biggest present ever. What do you want?”

“Hmm, I’ve always wanted a unicorn,” she whispered. “Can I have one? Pretty please…”

He shook his head and chuckled before planting a smacking kiss on her forehead. “Only if you look after it and feed it and walk it.”

“Deal!” she giggled. “Can we go the day after you get your salary?”

He laughed, but when she looked seriously at him, he furrowed his brow. “Wait, you were joking,” he said, “weren’t you?”

She couldn’t help giggling again, she didn’t answer him and just shook her head at the look of slight concern on his face.

***

Mr Terror was a middle-aged man who looked like he had travelled to all of the countries in the world at the same time, and looked now very confused about his whereabouts.

His fair hair was styled in messy – almost dirty – dreadlocks that brushed against the desk behind which he was seated. His white shirt was a bit lose around his shoulders and showed off a complicated tattoo that seemed to have been made by some artist on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. His clothes seemed to come from the Far West because the pointy point of his leather boots could be seen under the desk and the fringes on the sleeves of his shirts were almost distracting in the way they swayed in front of Lily.

He was one weird looking, yet incredibly affable, man.

“So, a weekend for two,” he repeated. “This weekend. And you said something romantic, right?”

Lily blushed to the roots of her hair. She had said that. She didn’t know why on earth she had said that, but she had. He had asked if she wanted something adventurous – but that hadn’t sounded relaxing at all – or something scary – no, thank you – or something romantic; and to be honest, a romantic holiday sounded quite relaxing indeed, didn’t it? Therefore, she had gone with that.

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Something romantic, or even not too romantic. Just not too expensive, and for just one night.”

“Any place?”

She nodded.

He pursed his lips as he browsed through the pieces of parchments sporting hotel deals and tours from all over the world.

She imagined it was a bit late to book an international Portkey for the following day, even when she was the niece of the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation. So they were probably going somewhere in the U.K. Well, that was good, too. There were so many places where Lily hadn’t been yet and that were surely interesting to visit.

“We have,” said Mr Terror, “a mini tour of the castles in Scotland. It’s very romantic and relaxing. There’s a bit of walking to do, some Apparition to be performed—you or your boyfriend are of age, right? Good—and lots of sights to see, but the places are gorgeous, and it’s definitely quite romantic.” He smiled at her. “And it’s already quite cold in Scotland at this time of year. Lots of rain and wind from the north, you need to keep each other warm for sure in that climate…” He winked at her and Lily did her best to try to keep her face cool and fair, instead of turning into a tomato with hair.

“Great,” she murmured throatily. “Sounds interesting.”

He nodded, placing the flyer with the trip in front of her. “Or we have a two-day-stay in Bath, where you have access to the private thermal baths of the hotel, and free entry to the spa with a complimentary massage.”

Lily’s lips spread into a smile. “That sounds very relaxing,” she exclaimed. “I like it.”

He placed the second flyer on top of the first and continued, “Or there’s also a mini holiday in a small B&B in Devon. You can see the famous wild horses of Dartmoor, hike through the hills, find little beaches where to swim… it’s all very isolated and romantic.”

“Nice,” she murmured, her head still thinking about Bath, spa, massages and thermal baths… That was surely one relaxing holiday, wasn’t it? And Hugo definitely needed a massage before his trials, and so did Lily, to be honest. She always needed a massage. She would get massages every day if she had the money for it. She still remembered Hugo’s massage, with perfumed oils and his whispers and his fingers all over her—

“Are you okay?” asked Mr Terror out of the blue. “You look quite flustered.”

She blinked and nodded hastily. “I… I think I’ll get the two-day-stay in Bath, if that’s possible,” she said. “It sounds good. Exactly what I was looking for.”

Mr Terror smiled affably at her. “Good to hear,” he said. “So shall we book a room for two?”

She nodded. “And the spa! Don’t forget the spa!”

“Spa, restaurant, tour of the city… Everything you need to make your staying unforgettable.” He smiled at her. “The Magic Waters is a sweet, little hotel; it also has a funny deal for its clients.”

Lily furrowed his brow. “What deal?”

“Oh, it’s cute: if a couple conceives a child during their stay at the hotel, they can come back for free on the same day every year for the rest of their lives,” he said cheerfully. “My wife and I are there every third of February.”

Lily’s lips parted slightly. “Cute,” she rasped out. “I… I don’t think we’re going to use that deal though…”

“It’s completely optional,” he agreed.

She nodded and he smiled at her before starting to fumble with papers for her to sign. Then, he Floo Called the hotel to book their room for the following night, and finally he discreetly slipped her the bill, which wasn’t that bad. Much less than a month’s pay and she wasn’t paid lots to begin with.

“I hope you have a wonderful weekend,” he said, “and don’t forget to take our survey once you’re back to let us know if you’re satisfied with our customer service.”

“Oh, I know I’m already satisfied.”

“Great,” he said cheerfully, “but take the survey anyway. We even give you a Chocolate Frog when you return it.”

“Well, if there’s a Chocolate Frog involved…”

He handed her the hotel reservation. “Have a safe journey,” he said, tapping a finger on the paper. “This the address, the Floo is probably the safest mean of transportation if you don’t know your surroundings.” He smiled gently. “Bath is gorgeous. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Thank you,” she said, standing up. “I’m sure we’ll like it too.”

“Enjoy your romantic weekend, Miss Potter. Make the most out of it.”

She blushed, nodded, and walked out of the office, then she hurried back home to answer to the letters – she certainly didn’t want to think about those while she was away – and to prepare her suitcase.

***

Lily packed all sorts of things: swimming suits, dresses, shorts, t-shirts, shirts, jeans… Her suitcase was probably heavier than when she had gone to Penzance, and she could already hear Hugo’s comments. Surely, he was going to laugh at her for needing all those clothes. But she did need them! She had no idea what the climate was like in Bath at that time of year, didn’t know if the hotel was elegant or rustic, if they were going to walk a lot around the city – even though she didn’t plan to, she wanted to enjoy the spa for as long as possible. Therefore, she needed many, _many_ different options.

She was well excited to go. She kept repeating that she was doing it for Hugo, but it was a holiday for her too and she couldn’t wait to be in another city, another bed, another place… and she couldn’t wait for the spa, the restaurant and the massage. She just hoped that Hugo wouldn’t be given a very pretty masseuse who would flirt indecently like all the girls seemed to do with him. Ugh. Lily just wanted to slap them all away. Maybe with a Beater’s bat. Maybe in their faces.

“You’re smiling; are you thinking about me?”

She started at Hugo’s voice. She looked up at him and proceeded to gasp. She hadn’t even heard him getting home, she must have been really deep in thought.

“Did I scare—hey!”

She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve booked us a wonderful weekend,” she giggled as she jumped up and down. “The best weekend ever.”

He furrowed his brow, looking slightly concerned. “You haven’t spent too much, have you?”

“No-oh,” she singsonged. “Stop worrying about that.”

He smiled fondly at her reply. “Where are we going?”

“Bath!” she exclaimed. “For a two-day-one-night staying in a hotel with free entry to the spa and the thermal baths, a complimentary massage, and with all the meals included. Plus, we get to have a tour of the city.” She grinned even wider. “How awesome is that?”

“Super awesome,” he replied. “A massage? Free entry to the spa? Thank you, Lily!” He managed to stop her jumping and pulled her to his chest to squeeze her. “You’re the best,” he whispered in her hair.

She squeezed him back, but didn’t reply, she just basked in the fact that he was hugging her. They stayed like that for some long moments, without talking or moving. She leant her cheek over his chest while his fingers rubbed soothing circles all over the small of her back and something soft tickled her feet. God, she wanted that moment to never—

“Oh no wait!” she exclaimed all of a sudden, pushing back from him and looking down at the little ball of fur that was rubbing his nuzzle all over her ankles. “We can’t go! Who’s going to take care of Rufus?” She crouched to the floor to pick him up and curled him up into a ball in her arms. “Shall we take him with us?”

Hugo cocked an eyebrow. “To the hotel?” he asked. “I don’t think he’d like that…”

Lily squeezed him to her chest. “We can’t leave him here alone,” she told Hugo darkly. “He’s going to die.”

“Hmm, no, he wouldn’t die, Lily,” he replied calmly, “but I think he would make a mess. Why don’t we drop him off at my parents’ tomorrow before _we_ are off? Crookshanks IV is spending the weekend over at the Animal Healing Centre for a little toothache he’s been having lately, so my parents are free to Kneazle-sit.”

Lily pouted as she looked down at the kitten, who was licking his paws as calmly as if they weren’t discussing where they would abandon him until Monday morning. “He’s going to hate us,” she muttered. “And if we ask your parents to Kneazle-sit we’ll also have to tell them where we’re going…”

“He’s going to hate us for a couple of days probably,” he replied, “then he’ll be alright. And anyway, we need to tell someone where we’re going and for how long. They’re going to worry if we don’t. And can you imagine Grandma Molly if neither of us is showing up at the Burrow for Sunday lunch? She’ll have a heart attack if nobody knows where we are.”

“But that’s half the fun gone,” pointed out Lily with a sigh. “If we tell them where we are, they can come and find us when we least want them to.”

“They’re not going to come to Bath just to spend time with us,” he replied sensibly. “They don’t do that when we’re here.”

Lily looked intently at him. She imagined her mother’s shocked face when she asked at the reception for Lily Luna Potter and Hugo Weasley’s room and she was given directions to the most romantic suite in the hotel. Or Uncle Ron as he barged into their room on Sunday morning and found the two of them cuddling together under the covers. “Alright,” replied Lily slowly as she tried to convince herself that those scenarios were highly unlikely. “If you say so, Hugo.” She looked down at Rufus. “You’re going to be alright with Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron, aren’t you?”

Rufus didn’t stop licking himself, and Lily took that as a sign that he was content enough about that arrangement, so she nodded and placed him on her bed before turning to look at Hugo again. “I’ve almost finished packing,” she announced happily, “only a few more essential things and then I’m done. Why don’t you take a shower, and pack your stuff, while I’ll Floo Call your parents and mine, and get dinner ready?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he grinned. “What are you going to make for dinner?”

“Nothing,” she replied nonchalantly. “I got takeaway from the Leaky Cauldron, and will heat that.” She pushed him out of her room. “Go now! You have to pack.”

“It’s only one night, Lily; it’ll take me five minutes—is that your suitcase?”

“Go!”

“It looks like you’re going away for three weeks—”

“Out!”

***

“You’re going to Bath? For two days? Just you and Hugo?” Her mother sounded surprised, and Lily couldn’t really fathom why, since she had already told her that they were thinking about going away for the weekend. Actually, her mother and her father had been the ones to even suggest them to go up north and camp in the wilderness. Or maybe they hadn’t really suggested it at all, probably they had just told them _not_ to go and disappear like they did. She couldn’t remember. Oh well…

“Yes,” Lily said forcefully. “I want him to relax. He needs to relax, you know, especially right before his trials. You said Dad took you away, and it helped you.”

Her mother nodded from her sofa. “Yes, of course, but don’t you think that maybe someone else wanted to spoil him too before the trials? Maybe Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron? Or Grandma? Or Rose?”

“We’re going to be back on Sunday evening, his trials are on Tuesday, they can spoil him on Monday,” she pointed out. “Have I already told you that we have free entrance to the spa? And a complimentary massage?”

Her mother nodded. “Yes, and have already I told you that I’m very jealous? You could have let us know that you’ve booked such an awesome holiday, I wouldn’t have minded spending the weekend in a spa.”

“Then, how are we supposed to relax if you come with us?” questioned Lily.

Her mother looked at her with an outraged expression over her face. “Oh you little… Harry! Harry, you’ve got the peskiest daughter on earth.”

Lily looked up as her father entered into the living room; she shifted her weight from a knee to the other, hoping for the conversation to end quickly so that she could heat up their dinner.

“It’s a bad sign when you’re _my_ daughter, Lily,” chuckled her father as he sat next to her mother. “What did you do?”

“She’s going to Bath with Hugo for the weekend, and when I told her that we could have gone with them she said that they wouldn’t have been able to relax if we did,” she huffed. “Pesky, isn’t she?”

“Oh come on, Mum! You know what I meant…”

“You’re going to Bath with Hugo?”

Lily nodded enthusiastically. “To a spa,” she explained. “He needs to relax.”

“And so do you, I bet,” said her father, winking. “Hmm, what’s the name of the hotel? I actually wouldn’t mind taking a weekend off from normal life, and I bet that Head Auror Harry Potter doesn’t need to book a room.”

“What? Daaad!” groaned Lily alarmed.

Her mother chuckled at her discomfort. “Calm down, he’s joking,” she said. “He’s on duty this weekend.” She looked at Lily and folded her arms across her chest. “Blimey, though, Lily. You really don’t want us there.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you there,” she said, feeling herself blush. “It’s just that you’d keep on checking on us and asking us to do stuff with you, and then the weekend wouldn’t be that relaxing anymore.”

Her mother cocked an eyebrow as if she found that a flimsy excuse, but Lily just smiled up at her parents, trying to do the best puppy eyes she could even through the green lights of the Floo.

“Alright,” she finally said. “I think I should go and eat something before I finish packing…”

“Call Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron, or they’re going to worry,” said her mother seriously.

“I’ve already done it. We’re dropping off Rufus tomorrow morning,” she said. “So, we’ll see you on Monday?”

Her mother nodded.

“Stay safe,” said her father. “Stay together.”

“Okay,” grinned Lily. “Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad.”

“Bye, Lily. Have a nice weekend.”

“You too.” She grinned again and pushed an arm thought the fireplace to wave before finally withdrawing her head.

“You were in there for forever,” said Hugo as she stood up. “They don’t want us to go?” He sounded genuinely concerned as he asked that.

She shook her head. “They wanted to come with us,” she sighed. “But I told them no, that the holiday wouldn’t be relaxing in the least, if they did.”

“You’re a mean, little witch, you know that right?” he chuckled.

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Would you have wanted to spend the weekend with them?” she asked. “They would have popped up everywhere. In the spa, during the massage, at dinner…”

“And we don’t want that,” he said, smiling softly. “We want to be left alone.” He took a step towards her and lowered his voice when he said, “Just the two of us.”

“Just us,” she whispered back. “It’s going to be perfect, isn’t it?”

“I’m sure it’ll be,” he told her softly, stretching a hand towards her face and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

She smiled and leant in the touch. “Shall we get dinner on the table? Have you finished packing?”

“All done,” he replied, his fingers brushing against her cheek now. “Have you called my parents?”

“They’re waiting for us tomorrow morning at eight,” she said. “Your mum asked us to bring her back a brochure of the hotel if we like it.”

“I think we can do that,” he replied, withdrawing his hand.

“Yeah.” She walked to the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out all the bags she had gotten from the Leaky Cauldron. “I’m well excited,” she admitted as she warmed up the contents of the bags with a spell.

“Me too,” he replied. “Hey Lily…”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you,” he murmured, his lips spreading into a smile. “You’re the best.”

She looked at him, furrowing her brow. “Stop saying that,” she chastised airily, “or I’ll start to believe that you’ve been hit with some kind of spell.”

“Oh come on… as if I was never nice to you.” He went to her and wrapped his arms around her squeezing her to his chest. “My favourite person in the world.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “You are, too,” she assured him. “Now let’s eat, because I’m starving and if we have to be at your parents’ at eight, I’ll have to go to bed at seven.”

“It’s seven thirty,” he pointed out.

“Then I’ll even have to find a Time Turner,” she sighed, wriggling free of his arms. “Sofa or table?”

“Sofa,” he replied. “I’ll get our drinks.”

She levitated the warm food bags on the coffee table of the living room and nodded in appreciation as he brought two chilly glasses of pumpkin juice. They sat down and had a very quiet, very relaxed dinner, chatting about Lily’s latest letters and Hugo’s last day of trainings as well as their upcoming weekend.

And Lily definitely felt already on holiday. 

***

Lily insisted they went to bed early. After all, the weekend ahead of them would be incredibly full. Relaxing, of course, but still quite busy, and she would have to wake up before eight, which, if for Hugo was a reasonable – if not, holiday-like – time, for Lily was still crazy.

Hugo insisted they didn’t lie down until they had digested their meal, though – which had been nowhere near light – and so they changed into their pyjamas and sat on Lily’s bed to play Exploding Snap and to chat, with Rufus lying next to them and swishing his tail right and left every time the deck of cards exploded.

“So,” said Hugo as he shuffled the cards, “we leave here at eight o’clock, right?”

“Right.”

“We drop off Rufus at my parents’,” he went on, “Floo to the hotel, check-in, and then…?”

Lily shrugged a shoulder. “We can either do the city tour tomorrow, or the spa. Or both, and then go to the thermal baths. And there’s the massage, they said it’s one hour long. So, we can do whatever you want to do in the morning, and then something in the afternoon, then something tomorrow morning and then something else tomorrow afternoon. But we’ll do whatever you want to do, Hugo.”

He smiled at her. “What do you suggest?” he asked. “I trust you.”

“Well, in my humble opinion,” she said, “I think we should do the tour of the city first.”

“Is that because you want to get it over with and then focus on the spa and the massage and want to pamper yourself?” he asked with a grin.

“Well, duh,” she replied. “And also because it’s nice to know a little of the place where we’re going to stay for two days…” She rolled her eyes. “I just hope it’s not going to be indescribably boring.”

“We really don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

She glanced at him, eyes narrowed. “Do you want to go?”

“Well, yes, I think it might be interesting, but we—”

“Stop right there.” She raised a hand in front of his face. “We’re going. It’s your weekend, remember? We’ll do anything you want to do.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to change his mind at the last minute and smiled instead. “Thank you,” he replied. “You’re really my favourite person in the world, you know that, right?”

She smiled back at him. “I had a hunch that I really might be when I paid for your weekend,” she giggled, but Hugo didn’t seem to find it as funny as she did. “Oh come on, it was a joke,” she said with a grin as his face darkened.

“Not funny,” he grunted. “I’ll pay for you as soon as I get my first salary.”

“I know,” she reassured him. “And you’ll get me a unicorn as well.”

He slowly seemed to relax again, smiling softly at her. “I don’t think Rufus would be too happy with having to share your attentions with a unicorn, you know.”

Rufus perked his ears up at the mention of his name, and Lily scooped him up in her arms, the game completely forgotten now. “Oh you’d be jealous, wouldn’t you?”

Rufus blinked at her before wriggling free from her arms and jumping down from the bed. He sashayed his furry behind left and right as he walked out of her room.

“Oh yes, jealous already,” chuckled Hugo.

Lily shook her head. “It’s my curse,” she said, lying back carelessly on her bed and pushing the cards away with her leg. “I’m surrounded with jealous people.” She looked at him and grinned.

“Are you talking about me?” he asked, and she could see his face actually flushing a little.

Her grin became wider as she patted the bed next to her. “Maybe,” she said as he settled down next to her. She turned towards him and wound her arms around his neck, pressing herself against his chest; she rested her nose over his pulse point and inhaled deeply. He smelled good. Familiar and clean, and she liked it.

“Am I sleeping here?” he asked softly as he hugged her back.

She hummed in reply. “Yes,” she whispered. “So we’ll be sure that you wake me up.”

He planted a kiss over her head. “I love you,” he murmured. “So much… thank you for this weekend; you’re the most fantastic…”

But she never heard the rest, for she fell asleep before he had even finished talking.

***

“…and don’t give him too much dry food, I like his diet to be varied,” said Lily for the umpteenth time. “And he needs plenty of water.”

Aunt Hermione nodded and smiled sweetly, despite the fact that Lily had gone on telling the same exact things for the past twenty minutes. “I know, darling,” she said patiently. “I’ve had Kneazles ever since I was at Hogwarts.”

Lily nodded and dipped her nose into Rufus’ fur. “You’re going to be alright, aren’t you?” she said. “Behave and don’t stress your grandparents.”

“His— _what_?” growled Uncle Ron from over his cup of tea.

Lily turned to look at him and shrugged a shoulder. “If Hugo is his daddy, you are his grandparents,” she explained matter-of-factly.

Uncle Ron glanced at Aunt Hermione, eyes wide for a moment, before looking back at her. “And I imagine you’re his mummy,” he said slowly.

“Ron,” said Aunt Hermione warningly.

“I’m just saying…” grunted Uncle Ron, bringing his cup back to his mouth to sip some more tea.

“So, have a lovely weekend,” said Aunt Hermione, looking from Lily to Hugo. “I’m sure you’re going to love Bath, it’s so interesting, such a lovely city. Especially those white walls, for example did you know—”

“No, but I’m sure they’re going to tell us about that during the tour, Mum,” chuckled Hugo. “And I think we really have to go now, we just wanted to drop off the ball of fur, say goodbye and tell you that we’ll collect him on Monday morning, is that okay?”

“I’ll collect him,” pointed out Lily. “You relax.”

He looked at her. “I’ll collect him, you mean. You’ll have to go to work.”

She waved a hand in front of his face. “We’ll see,” she said, letting him know that she was harbouring the idea of staying home with him all day. “Thank you again for looking after Rufus for us.” She kissed the ball of fur and sighed overdramatically before finally depositing him in Aunt Hermione’s outstretched palms. “Be a good Kneazle,” she said as she rubbed his head.

He meowed at her, as if he finally understood that they were leaving and he had to stay behind. She hoped he wasn’t going to forget about them, could he do that? In just two nights?

“Shall we go, Lily?” asked Hugo as he closed his hand on her shoulder.

She almost started out of her Kneazle-filled thoughts. “Yes, yes,” she replied. “Bye, Auntie. Bye, Uncle Ron.”

Uncle Ron looked at them over his cup and nodded.

“Enjoy your weekend,” said Aunt Hermione. “Relax and don’t worry about anything, okay?”

Hugo nodded. “Thanks, Mum, we’ll do.”

“Bye, Hugo; bye, Lily.”

There were more farewells, and only after a fistful of minutes, Lily and Hugo finally managed to Floo to The Magic Waters Hotel.

It was an ancient and richly decorated building, where everything was white. The reception counter was white, the floors were white, the walls were white, the sofas were white. Even the man behind the counter looked very ethereal: with fair skin and hair that was the colour of snow. His teeth were extremely white too when he smiled at them. “Hello and welcome to The Magic Waters,” he said in a deep voice. “How may I help you?”

Lily stepped closer to the counter and cleared her throat. “We’ve booked a room,” she said.

“Of course, Madam. Your name, please?”

“Potter.”

The old man nodded and smiled as he rummaged through some parchments. He was so focused on his job that he didn’t even seem to notice as Hugo approached the counter too and placed their suitcases on the floor.

“Potter,” said the man, finally looking up. “Yes, you booked the romantic gateway weekend, which includes access to our spa, the thermal baths, a free massage, the restaurant, a tour of the city and, naturally, our suite.”

Lily could see Hugo turning to look at her, but she kept her eyes stubbornly away from him and onto the receptionist. “Yes,” she whispered. “That one.”

“Of course,” replied the man. “When would you like to take the tour of the city?”

“This morning?”

“No problem whatsoever, Madam,” he said. “I’ll book it for you. Your carriage will leave at ten, is that alright?”

She nodded, not even wanting to check with Hugo for fear of him commenting about the romantic weekend in front of the receptionist and causing her to turn into a babbling mess.

“And you only have to book the massage, but the entrance to the thermal baths and the spa are free and you can go whenever you want,” he said. “Do you already know when you want the massage?”

Oh, great! She had to look at Hugo now, because they hadn’t discussed that. She took a deep breath and turned to look at him, he was grinning from ear to ear. “When do you want the massage?” she asked, her voice a bit throaty.

“Whenever you want it, _my love_ ,” he replied promptly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her an affectionate squeeze as he leant his head over hers and looked at the receptionist.

She did her best not to turn the colour of her hair and nodded stiffly. “Tomorrow morning?” she asked the receptionist.

“Perfect,” replied the man. “You’re all set to enjoy your staying at our hotel, then.” He handed them a brass key with the number 12 on it and Lily closed her fingers around it until it dug into her palm.

Hugo’s hand squeezed her shoulder again. “Thank you,” he said to the man. “I’m sure we’ll have a lovely stay. Right, _dear_?”

She subtly glared at him. “Yes,” she replied, forcing out a smile.

“I’m glad to hear that,” said the man before gesturing to someone behind Hugo and Lily to collect their suitcases and lead them to their room.

They followed the young, and impeccably dressed, porter in silence, with Hugo’s hand still on her shoulder as he grinned like an idiot to everything and everybody they met in front of them.

The young man opened the door of their room for them and Hugo dug into his pockets to give him a Sickle. The porter also explained to them how to get to the spa and where to meet the carriage for the tour of the city.

When he left, Hugo didn’t waste any time at all. “You booked us the romantic weekend?” he asked, but instead of mockery, his voice seemed thick with emotion, as if he found that awesome.

Lily shrugged the shoulder he was still holding, but he only squeezed her more tightly. “Yeah, well… all the other options didn’t seem relaxing at all,” she babbled, looking at his chest so that she didn’t have to look at his face.

“Really?” he chuckled.

She darkened a bit. “Yes, really,” she replied, finally shrugging him off. She turned towards the bedroom and blinked in surprise, unable to do anything else. There were rose petals scattered on the ivory covers, a bottle of champagne on the small desk that was eased against the opposite wall, vouchers in the shape of hearts for the spa and the thermal baths. Everything seemed to scream honeymoon and love and romance...

“Well, it’s a nice room,” said Hugo, his voice smug. “Don’t you think?” He walked to the bed, turned around to face her and let himself fall back against the mattress with a grin over his face and his arms outstretched. “Come and join me on the bed, _my darling_ ,” he said, leaning on an elbow and looking at her with a seemingly innocent smile.

“It’s a nice room,” she agreed, walking to the bed too to sit down on the petals next to his legs. “I like it.”

He sneaked a hand around her waist and curled his fingers on her stomach, then he pulled her back and towards him. “Hmm,” he hummed as he held her tight against him. “Thank you for organising all this for me, Lily…”

She smiled and placed her hands where his were pressing against her ribs. “It’s alright,” she replied. “You’re my favourite person in the world too, you know, right?”

He squeezed her more tightly, then he let her go to place his hands under his head, and when she turned to look at him, he had his eyes closed and a smile over his face.

He looked already so relaxed, so happy, and so _handsome_. Yes, Lily couldn’t find any other word to describe him. He was handsome, and for a moment, she felt like he was all hers and only hers. For a moment, she thought of Marie, and how much the girl would have envied her had she known where the two of them were. And she rejoiced at the thought.

She pressed herself against him and his smile broadened as he wrapped an arm around her. He still didn’t open his eyes, though, and Lily just leant her chin onto his chest and looked up at his face.

To think that Hugo was only hers, though, was a very silly thought. Honestly. Hugo didn’t like her that way. He would have already confessed his love if he had felt that way for her, wouldn’t he? But that hadn’t happened, therefore he certainly didn’t have any romantic interest towards her. She was just his little cousin.

Lily, on the other hand…

Oh God! Lily loved him to bits. Lily wanted him. Lily was desperately in love with him. Lily knew that she hadn’t bought the romantic weekend because it was “relaxing”. Lily was crazy about Hugo, completely and pathetically crazy about him.

She shook her head and rested her cheek on Hugo’s ribs, sighing disconsolately. No, no, no. She was not in love with him. She wasn’t. She had to stop thinking about him that way. She would save herself a great deal of suffering if she did.

“Shall we get ready for the tour of the city?” asked Hugo suddenly. “I mean, if you ask me, we could ditch it and stay here cuddling all day, but you know…”

She felt the butterflies stir their wings at the suggestion of cuddling all day on the bed, but she bade them to stay still. “Yeah, we should get ready,” she replied, pushing herself up into a sitting position. “Are you going to get changed?”

He shook his head. “No, but I know you are.”

She rolled her eyes only half-heartedly. “You know me so well.” She stood up and glanced at him. “I’m doing it for you, you know, to look pretty while we go on the city tour.”

“You look pretty in everything you wear, Lily,” he assured her, a smile stretching his lips. “If you asked me, you would never have to change. Everything looks good on you.”

She blushed and was happy to see that he still wasn’t looking at her. She mumbled a, “Thank you,” and hurried into the bathroom to change and get ready for the tour.

***

Bath was beautiful. Aunt Hermione was right, it was a lovely city, and looking at it from the carriage added to the charm. Muggles didn’t seem to mind that a carriage with horses would make its way through their traffic, and Lily discovered that theirs was not the only one anyway. A group of Japanese people pointed at them as they stopped at a traffic light and took a myriad of pictures. Lily smiled and waved, feeling suddenly like an aristocrat.

Well, the carriage itself was beautiful: richly decorated on the outside, with velvet interiors and a well-dressed coachman to take them around and be their guide. Lily was glad she had donned the dress her mother had brought her from Italy and Rose’s sandals, because that was certainly an occasion to dress up. Hugo looked handsome enough in his shorts and polo shirt, and Lily couldn’t complain.

The coachman, in the meantime, explained about the history of the Royal Crescent, the reason why the most ancient buildings were all the same creamy colour and why people in Bath were forbidden to use coal and wood in their fireplaces. He told them about the Roman Baths and the link between Jane Austen and the city. He also asked them how knowledgeable they were in Muggle culture and when they replied that they were not complete strangers to the subject, he started to enthusiastically shower them with notions about film locations and actors and books.

“ _The Duchess_ was filmed here,” went on the coachman, “with Keira Knightley, you know her, don’t you?”

Lily nodded, she had heard about her from Aunt Hermione once, who hadn’t seemed too fond of her and her acting technique.

“Yeah,” said Hugo, “and _Les Misérables_ too was filmed here, wasn’t it?”

The man nodded. “Part of it, yes.”

They went past many tearooms that would have caused Grandma Molly to squeal in happiness. Lily made a mental note to tell her about them once they were back. Maybe she could have come here with her for a tea once.

“Are there lots of shops here in Bath?” asked Lily as they drove past a quaint little church.

“Many,” replied the man, “but all Muggle ones, we don’t have a Wizarding neighbourhood here.”

“Yeah… any clothes shops?”

“Honestly,” groaned Hugo.

“What? I’m just curious,” she protested. “I’m not going to go on a shopping spree this weekend, but if I come back with Grandma for a tea one afternoon it’s good to know…”

Hugo cocked an eyebrow. “You want to come back with Grandma? Why?”

“She’d love those tearooms, wouldn’t she?”

He looked out of the carriage just as they passed by one with flowers on the windows and an iron table with chairs placed near the wooden door. “She would love them, you’re right,” he said gently. “We should take her here one weekend.”

Lily nodded and smiled. “She’d love that,” she said, “and we would finally become her favourite grandchildren. Ah! Take that, Victoire!” She giggled at that, and Hugo joined her.

“She’s going to get mad if she thinks that we think that she has favourites, you know,” said Hugo as he smiled.

“I know,” she replied. “And she doesn’t really have favourites, but it’s fun to tease her…”

Hugo shook his head and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, dragging her to him. “Mean, little witch,” he whispered affectionately before kissing her head. “I love you.”

“And I love you back.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update before I'm off, guys. I will be unable to reply to comments until Monday evening. SO sorry for that. I'll read them all and think about you and love you like always, though. 
> 
> There's a warning for some sexy times in this chapter. Not exactly an "extended" scene, but a very important moment between our favourite couple! 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter and the weekend! ❤

***

Lunch at The Magic Waters was delicious. It consisted of risotto with truffles, trout on a bed of salad and tomatoes, and strawberries with ice-cream. Hugo pointed out that it was even healthy, and Lily wrinkled her nose at that. She had hoped in a weekend filled with unhealthy food and long lazy days, and instead they had already had a productive morning and now a healthy lunch. Oh well! The important thing was that Hugo was having fun and that he was relaxing, and from the way he chatted enthusiastically about the city and the food, she knew he was definitely having a nice time.

They decided to move into the little garden on the back of the hotel once they were finished eating, where they were served ice cold pumpkin juice with cute little paper umbrellas on top. They leant back against the garden chairs and looked at the beautiful climbing flowers, which covered the ancient walls that surrounded that green space deep in the centre of the city.

“I keep thinking that Grandma Molly would love it here,” said Lily. “Is that normal? That I keep thinking about her while we’re here.”

“I think it’s perfectly normal,” he replied gently, smiling at her. “You know that she’s going to have a heart attack tomorrow when we’re not at the Burrow, and you feel guilty. That’s why you keep thinking about her.” He sipped some pumpkin juice and nodded. “Plus, this place really is wonderful. She’d love it for sure.”

Lily glanced at him and bit her bottom lip. “So… you’re enjoying your stay so far, aren’t you?” she asked softly. “I mean, I chose the right place for a relaxing weekend, right? Even though it’s a romantic holiday…”

He nodded, grinning broadly. “Yes, it’s perfect,” he assured her. “I love it and I feel very relaxed already.” He yawned for good measure.

“Hey, do you want to know something funny about the hotel?” She moved her chair closer to his and perched precariously on the armrest, bringing her head near his. “The hotel has a ‘sweet little deal’ as Mr Terror called it.” She signed “sweet little deal” between inverted commas for emphasis. “If a couple gets pregnant while they’re at the hotel, they can come back for free every year on the same day forever.” She giggled, “Kind of cool, isn’t it?”

Hugo’s neck sent out a loud crack as he turned to blink at her in surprise, then a sly smile spread his lips and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, dragging her to him. “So, do you want to come back here every year on the 29th or 30th of August for the rest of your life?” he asked her, his voice ready to burst into laughter at any moment. “I feel magnanimous, you get to choose, _my love_.”

“Ha, ha. You’re so funny,” she deadpanned before leaning her head on his chest so that she could hide her blush from his eyes. She sighed beatifically as she pressed herself against him. There was a soft breeze that was nowhere near as warm as it had been until a few days before in England. Summer was definitely coming to an end; after all it would have been September in two days. And September would bring Hugo’s trials and then October when he’d start working seriously with Puddlemere, and then November when Lily would become assistant Quidditch correspondent.

Time flew, and she was sure that before she could even notice, they would be living their own lives away from each other.

“Have I already said that I love you today?” murmured Hugo in her hair, his fingers squeezing her arm gently.

She looked up at him, leaning her chin on his chest. He was smiling one of his fond smiles as he glanced down at her and she felt herself melt while the wayward butterflies took off all at once. She tried, unsuccessfully, to keep them at bay. “Hugo,” she murmured so softly and breathily that for a moment she thought he hadn’t heard her. His smile grew even wider, though, so she knew that he had, in fact, heard her. “Do you think it’s normal?” she blurted out without being able to stop herself.

He looked down at her and tilted his head. “What? That I love you? Of course, it’s normal.”

She shook her head. “That we would say these things,” she corrected. “That we would go on a romantic weekend—I know I was the one who chose it, so zip it—that we would do… you know…”

Hugo’s arm slid from around her shoulders and he looked at her taken aback. “Of course it’s normal,” he hurried to say. His eyes were suddenly very wide and he looked afraid, as if he thought that she would find an excuse to stop the tender moments between them. That was not her intention at all, though. “Of course, Lily. You’re my little cousin, I… just love you, and I like to say it. And to show it. Of course that’s normal, we’re just—”

“Would you go on a romantic weekend with Dominique? Or would you keep telling Lucy that you love her? Or would you help Roxy the way you’ve helped me with the letters?” she questioned quietly. Why was she asking him, though? The fear of hearing that yes, he would do these things with anybody else was making her heart beating at double speed in her chest.

He swallowed and looked away. “No,” he admitted. “No, that’s… that’s ridiculous. You’re being silly.”

“They’re your cousins too, just like me.”

His face darkened slightly and he muttered, “Would you do what we do with Fred or Louis?”

“Not in a million years,” she whispered.

He looked down at her, and weirdly enough he seemed surprised. Probably he hadn’t expected her to reply so quickly and with such resoluteness. He smiled at her though, stretching a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. “I was so happy when you accepted to come and live with me, Lily,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to share the flat with anybody but you. James even tried to bribe me with new Quidditch equipment when I told him that I was going to ask you and he remembered the flat existed.”

“You chose me over new Quidditch equipment?” grinned Lily.

“I’d choose you over new Quidditch equipment every day of the week.”

Those stupid butterflies cavorted almost painfully her stomach and she shifted slightly on her chair to quieten them. It didn’t quite work out, especially when his hand slid over her shoulder once again and then a bit lower on her body too, and when his fingers curled over her hip, she thought that he could feel them too.

“Well, if you really chose me over new Quidditch equipment, then I really hope you get picked for the team, otherwise I’ll feel guilty,” she grinned. “I mean, I know that you’ll get picked, but I don’t want to jinx it, so I’m not going to say it, even though I’ve just said it… Let’s pretend you didn’t hear it, okay?”

“Okay,” he chuckled. “Thank you, though.”

“Yeah, well, you promised me exclusive interviews throughout your career, I kind of need you to become a professional Quidditch player… for me.”

He shook his head. “So selfless,” he deadpanned. “So shall I refuse all interviews until November?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’d be great, thank you, Hugo.” She looked at him. “Except of course the first few days after the trials, when my mum will be all over you.”

“Good, because it’s in my contract that I’ll have to attend a press conference the evening of my trials, and then a photoshoot the next day,” he said, “and more interviews with selected newspapers and magazines.”

“My mum will monopolise the press conference, I’m sure about that,” she giggled before frowning. “Hey, wait a second! I thought there was the party at Oliver Wood’s house the night of the trials. Has he moved it?”

“No, it’s the night after the trials,” he replied matter-of-factly. “The second of September.”

Bloody sodding hell. She sat up straight, eyes wide. “Oh,” she said. “Oh!”

“What?” he asked, furrowing his brow.

“Oh God.”

“What? Don’t tell me that you forgot.”

She bit down hard on her bottom lip and looked at him with wide eyes. “I… I honestly thought it was on the first,” she hurried to whisper. “So I said to Derek that we could meet up for the portrait on the second… It was an honest mistake, Hugo, I swear.”

Hugo’s lips parted in surprise, and Lily could see how hurt he was when his face darkened. He took a deep, jerky breath and finally looked away from Lily. His arm slid away from around her and he grasped the armrests of his chair until his knuckles became all white.

“Oh God! I swear I didn’t do—Hugo. Hugo!”

He stood up so suddenly, striding away with long steps, that Lily was left gasping at his movements. She stood up, too, hurrying to follow him back into the hotel, past the reception, and up the stairs to their room. “I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose,” she kept repeating as she walked behind him. “Please, Hugo! Will you at least wait?”

He stopped only when he had barged into their room. He waited for her to walk in there after him, and only when she closed the door at her back did he turn to glare at her.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated desperately. “I… I was so sure it was right after your trials! I got confused. Please, I swear, I didn’t do that on purpose.”

“Well, thankfully,” he grunted, glaring at her. “I can’t believe you forgot the day! I thought you were excited about it!”

“I am, I swear, I am,” she whined. “I can’t wait for it. That’s why I hoped it was on the first instead of the second! Yes, it must have been that… Please, Hugo, don’t be mad at me.”

But even if she looked at him with her most pleading expression, he didn’t seem ready to let it go, yet. “And of all the people, you had to schedule a date with your boyfriend!” he went on. “Right the night I asked you out!” He looked away from her and his face darkened even more before he mumbled, “To the party. I asked you to the party.” He shook his head. “Well, you know what? You can do whatever you want, I don’t care.” He sat on the bed and folded his arms across his chest, looking like a pouting child whose mother had just forgotten to buy him a present on her way from a holiday. “Have fun with Derek,” he hissed as an afterthought.

Lily bit down hard on her bottom lip. “Listen, it’s not that bad: I’ll Floo Call Derek tomorrow and ask him to move our date,” she said sensibly. “I’m sure it won’t be a problem for him.”

“Oh no, please, I would never want you to have to reschedule your date,” he grunted.

“Now you’re just being immature,” she pointed out, pressing her lips together. “I said it was a mistake. I didn’t do it on purpose. And there’s no problem whatsoever, I’ll ask Derek tomorrow night, when we’re back home. And he’ll say yes, because he’s far more grown up than you are.”

He snorted again, ignoring her last comment. “I can’t believe you’d forget the day,” he repeated bitterly.

“How many times do I have to say that I’m sorry?” she said, starting to feel frustrated at his insistence. “It’s not like we’ve talked about it every day: you just told me once, and I got confused between two consecutive days. It doesn’t mean that I’m not looking forward to it! I am, I swear.”

“So looking forward that you’d forget the date…”

“I said it was a mistake!” she snapped.

“Stop screaming, Banshee,” he growled, glaring at her. “I wonder what the deal is for couples who break up in this hotel.”

“We’re not a couple, we can’t break up,” she retorted. “And you’re the one who’s winding me up. I’ll change date with Derek, he’ll understand.”

“Because he’s so much more mature than me,” grunted Hugo, grimacing and snorting like a child.

“If you behave like that, _yes_.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“ _Good_.”

She rolled her eyes and plopped on the bed next to him, knotting her arms tightly over her chest and pouting just like he was doing. They sat there for long minutes in silence, snorting every now and then and stealing angry glances at each other.

Lily couldn’t believe that a few minutes before they were chatting and holding each other, and that now she just wanted to grab his shoulders and shake them until she slapped some sense into his thick head. God! He was being so childish and irrationally jealous. Irrationally because she hadn’t done that on purpose. She couldn’t make that clear enough. And now that she had made that little mess, she was going to choose Oliver Wood’s party over her date with Derek, so… honestly… Hugo should take it as a compliment. And now that she thought about it, it was the last session they had scheduled for the portrait, so it probably wouldn’t have taken long anyway, she could do both things the same day, she could bet on that.

“Let’s go to the spa,” blurted out Hugo all of a sudden. “I need to relax.”

Lily looked away from him. She was ready to skip the spa experience if that was necessary to make him understand that she was angry and that his behaviour was not okay. She raised her chin to let him know that he could go without her, but he didn’t stand up from the bed nor he looked at her.

“Are you angry?” he asked sourly. “Because you really shouldn’t—”

“Of course I should, you’re being a jerk,” she protested.

There was more silence following that and for a moment she could see themselves sitting there for the whole weekend, in silence, skipping activity after activity and completely ruining the holiday for both of them.

“Alright, maybe a little bit,” he finally mumbled out.

That should have mollified her, but it didn’t. Not in the slightest. “You think?” she said bitterly.

He sighed. “Maybe a bit more than a little bit,” he conceded. “I’m just hurt that you’d not only forget about it, but that you’d set a date with Derek on the same night.”

“I said I didn’t do it on purpose,” she repeated, her voice slightly gentler now. “And for your information, he only has to finish the portrait and add the spell. He said it was going to be very quick, I bet I could go there a bit earlier and be home in time to get ready for the party.”

He snorted at that, and she had to admit that it was a far-fetched theory. Nonetheless, she was willing to bet that she could do it, just to prove to him that she had made no mess at all.

“If you think you can do it, I’d love to see you try,” he said calmly. “But I want you to know that I’d be mortified if I was to arrive late to the party of the year because my date is late.”

She turned to look at him, a soft smile over her lips. “Not even fashionably late?” she asked.

“No,” he replied far more seriously than she had expected.

She sighed again. “Okay, let’s do this,” she said, “when we get back home, I’ll Floo Call Derek and ask him if we can anticipate the session of about half an hour, and then I’ll tell him what the problem is and ask him if it’s feasible to finish the painting in that amount of time. And maybe I’ll go over there already dressed up, so that I can meet you in the flat and we can go before you can even notice that I wasn’t home…”

“And you’re not going to be late,” he said, still a slight pout in his voice.

“I’d throw myself under the Knight Bus rather than being late to the party of the year,” she said, placing a hand on her heart for good measure.

He looked at her, then finally he seemed to relax. “Alright,” he said quietly, “I’ll wait for you in our living room.”

“And I’ll be perfectly on time,” she replied brightly.

He conceded a small smile in her direction. “I know,” he said. “I’m sorry I got mad, I was just… really, _really_ hurt.”

“I know and I’m sorry. Listen, let’s pretend we didn’t just quarrel,” she said. “Let’s go to the spa. We need it now, don’t we?”

He nodded and stood from the bed. He went to the dresser where he had insisted they’d put their clothes, instead of leaving them in their suitcases as Lily had suggested. “Wait,” he said suddenly, and for a moment Lily thought that he had something else to say about her date with Derek. “What are we going to do at the spa?”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Hmm, relax?”

“I know that,” he said, annoyed. “I meant what exactly are we going to do? Like, we’re not getting a massage, because that’s tomorrow, and the baths are a separate thing, aren’t they? So…?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a manicure and a pedicure for sure,” she replied, “and a facial, maybe.”

Hugo gasped out loud as he stared at her with eyes bulging. “A _what_?” he asked, his voice high pitched.

She furrowed her brow. “A facial?” she repeated. “A massage on my face?”

He looked like a puffer fish that deflated all of a sudden, apparently as realisation hit him. “Oh,” he mumbled, scratching his head. “Thank God…”

“Why? What were you—oh my God!” She covered her mouth with both hands as realisation hit her too now. “You were thinking—”

“I didn’t know you could get massages on your face!” he protested, his cheeks turning crimson.

“And so the next logic thing was to assume that I’d go to a spa to get… to get…” She shook her head. “Oh God, Hugo!”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I… I’m sorry.”

She nodded, and turned away from him, shedding her earrings and bracelets on the bedside table. Damn it, they had the weirdest conversations, didn’t they? “What are you going to do at the spa?” she asked, her voice throaty after that awkward exchange.

“Get a manicure,” he replied just as throatily.

She turned to look at him, but he was busy trying to decide what outfit was more appropriate for the spa, so he didn’t even turn to look at her.

“You’re joking.”

“Yes, of course I am,” he replied. “What should I wear?” he finally asked, slightly irritated.

She gestured towards his shirt and shorts. “That’s fine,” she replied. “They’ll probably give us soft, warm towelling robes to wear in there anyway. So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, Lily,” he snapped. “Whatever is free and relaxing.”

She raised a hand near her face. “Sorry if I asked,” she muttered.

He closed his eyes and groaned. “Sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you,” he said. “I’ve just never been to a spa, and it sounds rather girly if you ask me… so I really don’t know what to do without having my testosterone levels plummeting.”

“That’s rubbish,” she replied lightly. “They’ll have plenty of gender neutral activities. How about you get a facial _massage_ too? That’s incredibly relaxing, I swear.”

“Really? It doesn’t sound that good…” he pointed out, blushing.

“Stop being an idiot, okay? They’re serious stuff,” she sighed. “They leave your skin smooth and soft like that of a baby, and leave you relaxed and happy for the rest of the day.”

He stared at her, looking supremely unconvinced. She just rolled her eyes and walked to him. She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the door. “Let’s go,” she said, leading him into the corridor, “and if you don’t find it relaxing or if afterwards you feel the urge to giggle and gossip about Neville’s abs, you can say, ‘I told you so’.”

***

The spa was situated under the hotel, dug into the rocks that made up most of the ground there in Bath. It was very stylish: with little niches where candles had been lit, and beautiful pieces of furniture that looked lush and comfortable to lie upon, while a soft, relaxing music paired with a delicate, flowery smell only helped in making the experience incredibly relaxing.

Lily had been right: as soon as they had walked into the door that read ‘Spa’ – which was right next to the one that led to the Thermal Baths, apparently – they had been welcomed by two zealous young girls who ushered them into separate changing rooms, and made them divest of all their clothes and wear soft towelling robes that made Lily feel as if a big, fluffy stuffed animal was giving her a warm hug.

Hugo looked a bit uncomfortable in his own towelling robe, but Lily didn’t point that out to him. Instead, she smiled brightly while the two girls led them to their lush massage tables.

“What would you like to do?” asked one of the girls as she Summoned oils and creams from a nearby shelf. “Manicure and pedicure? A facial massage? A waxing?”

“Oh God, no waxing,” groaned Hugo, sitting stiffly on the table. “Nor a manicure or a pedicure.”

“We also offer a facial cleanse, foot massage, hand massage—”

“He’ll get a facial massage, please,” said Lily, closing her eyes as she settled on the massage table, “and so will I, as well as a manicure and pedicure… and a foot massage.”

She heard the girls giggle, but didn’t open her eyes to look at them or at Hugo. She just waited there and when one of the two masseuses started to prepare her for the facial, she felt herself slipping into blissfulness.

She was massaged with perfumed oils, cleansed, covered in a clay mask, and tapped delicately by the expert hands of the girl. She smiled every time the other girl told Hugo to relax, and he commented back that he just didn’t want his skin to be too soft, too smooth, or too perfect.

While they waited for the mask to dry on their skins, both girls started to work on Lily’s hands and feet. She decided she would go for a crimson nail polish, and they pushed back her cuticles, massaged her hands, and filed her nails with care.

“All right there, Hugo?” she asked as the girls worked on her feet.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Even though I can’t see anything behind these cucumber slices.”

She tried to smile, but the clay mask prevented her from doing so. “Just relax, and enjoy the feeling,” she said gently. “Isn’t it relaxing?”

“I guess…” he mumbled.

The girls giggled from the bottom of the table. “Guys are always like this, aren’t they?” asked one of them knowingly.

“Yes, every time a couple comes in here, it’s always the same story: the lady is always relaxing, while the man pretends he isn’t enjoying the treatment at all,” said the other. “Then he is always the one to ask to come back.”

They laughed again and Lily joined them. Hugo just snorted instead.

Men! They were all the same.

“How long have the two of you been together?” asked one of the girls. “If I may ask. You look so young.”

There was a long pause where Lily waited for Hugo to reply and he possibly was waiting for her to do the same exact thing. Without being able to look at each other, they couldn’t even decide how to reply to that question. Were they going to reply that they weren’t together? That they were cousins? But then they were probably going to lose the possibility of having a massage the next day. Wasn’t that part of the romantic weekend experience?

“It’s all these beauty treatments that she subjects me through,” snorted Hugo after a moment. “That’s why I still look like a teenager in my… in my forties.”

“What?”

“Forties?”

“No way! You’re having us on!”

Lily wiggled her toes as the two girls stopped working on her. Probably, they were looking from Hugo to Lily, trying to decide if he was serious or if he was joking.

“Forty three next year,” he went on, his voice suddenly a little tremulous as if he was in his eighties instead. “And our daughter is getting married in October.”

Lily felt the mask starting to crumble as she tried to restrain her laughter. The girls were gasping and they surely must have been quite the sight as they listened to Hugo’s lies.

“No way!” one of them said. “You’re using a glamour! You look like you could still be in Hogwarts!”

“Forty-three? Yeah, I’m sorry but I don’t believe you… Sir.”

“Tomorrow it’s our twentieth anniversary,” he went on. “Twenty lovely years with my darling.”

“Aww, that’s so lovely,” gushed one of the girls.

“I so want to be like you when I’m old, too.”

“Old?” grunted Hugo.

“Sorry!” giggled the girl. “I meant old _er_.”

“That’s better,” said Hugo, now sounding dangerously like a grumpy old man. “At your age we used to respect our elders, didn’t we, _m’dear_?”

Lily let out a half-suffocated giggle. “Yeah,” she chuckled. “Yeah…”

“Did you fight in the war against Voldemort?” asked one of the girls. “Do you know Harry Potter?”

“Oh yes, best friends we are,” said Hugo. “He’s one funny guy.”

Lily tried to stifle her laughter, but she could feel the cucumber slices sliding off her face as she shook with restrained giggles. It was hard to go through the rest of the treatment with a straight face and she almost regretted it when they peeled away the mask from her face and she had to stare into the scrutinising eyes of the girls, as if they were trying to decide if she really was forty-three at all.

They didn’t seem convinced, but Hugo just went on talking about the war and about their parents as if they were their best friends, and the girls just listened in rapture at his tales.

“You’re an idiot,” she whispered to him as they were finally free to get back to the changing rooms to slip back into their own clothes.

He grinned at her with his very smooth and very relaxed face. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot, right?”

***

Dinner went well, they both were very relaxed and they agreed that the food was delicious. They were served pasta with fresh tomatoes, roast chicken with spices and mixed steamed greens, and a pudding covered in chocolate. There was also music playing live in the little dining room and the waitresses were all dressed nicely. Lily couldn’t help noticing that this was a completely different atmosphere from the Leaky Cauldron, and even though Lily liked the Leaky Cauldron, it was nice to be in such a different place for once.

Once they were finished eating, they leant back against the chairs. Lily felt completely and utterly stuffed and was glad that her dress was comfortable, especially around her middle.

“Shall we take a walk?” asked Hugo. “It’ll do us good before bed.”

She swallowed a little burp that was about to bubble over her lips. “Even lying down and staring at the ceiling will do us good,” she said softly. “I feel way too full to even walk to our room.” She grinned. “You’re going to carry me, aren’t you?”

He quirked an eyebrow at her and shook his head, then stood up from the table and stretched a hand in her direction. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go, it’s going to be nice.”

“Hugo…” she groaned, but grabbed his hand and let him pull her to her feet.

He offered her his arm and she leant against his side as they made their way towards the main entrance of the hotel. There was a girl at the reception, and she greeted them politely as they walked past her.

Outside, Bath was quiet. They met only a few people: an old man with a dog, two tipsy teenage girls, and a couple who was snogging in a corner. The evening air was coldish and Lily shivered slightly in her light dress. She pushed herself against Hugo, nudging her way under his warm arm to find a bit of comfort. “It’s cold,” she complained, “and we’ve just finished eating. I’m so going to be sick tonight.”

He squeezed her against his side and discretely drew out his wand, whispering a Heating Charm in her direction. She felt instantaneously better, her limbs and her belly warming up under the warm stream of air that hit her.

“Better?” he asked gently.

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He smiled at her and they kept walking through little streets and past the closed shops. There was a place that claimed to have the widest range of sausages of all Somerset, a shop that hid some delicious-looking cupcakes behind their shutters, and a shoe shop that looked very inviting to Lily.

“Do we have time for some shopping, tomorrow?” she asked brightly. “Oh, is that why you insisted on a walk? To have a look at the shops so that we know where to go tomorrow?”

“No,” he replied. “I just wanted to walk with you for a bit.” He dragged her away from the window of a clothes shop, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as if he was trying to cage her against his body. “I like to walk with you,” he whispered.

She looked up at him and grinned. “I like to walk with you too, Hugo. We don’t do it nearly enough, do we? We should take a walk more often after dinner, and maybe even after lunch, now that you don’t have trainings anymore.”

“Yeah,” he replied, his voice a bit throaty. “But… you know… I like to do everything with you, Lily.” He squeezed her, as if he was afraid that she would step back and look at him weirdly after his admission. “Like everything. Really, _everything_.”

“Okay, I get it,” she said, patting his chest. “I do too. We get along pretty well, don’t we?” She squeezed her arms around his waist. “Now that I think about it, I get along with you even more than I do with Rose or Victoire.”

“Me too,” he whispered.

She leant her head over his chest and smiled.

“I like you,” he murmured against her hair.

“I like you too,” she replied, “a lot. You’re a fantastic person.” She looked up at him again. “And my soon to be Quidditch star-cousin, let’s not forget that.”

He smiled weakly and nodded. “Yeah.” Then he looked away from her and added, “Shall we go back now? It’s getting pretty dark and we don’t really know the city that well.”

“I’m not scared when I’m with you,” she replied, turning around with him in tow, “but I can’t wait to lie in bed.” She yawned noisily to emphasise just how tired she was.

He squeezed her again. “I do too,” he replied. “I… I like to sleep with you.”

She didn’t reply to him, too busy trying to keep the butterflies at bay – again – and he seemed to tense as the siles grew thicker around them while they made their way back to the hotel. They nodded at the receptionist and walked quickly up the stairs that led to their room. They took turns in the bathroom, changed quickly, and prepared themselves for the night.

Lily was the first one to slip under the covers; Hugo joined her a fistful of minutes later.

“This bed is soft,” she said as she hugged the pillow under her chest. “And the covers are so smooth; they just slip all over me.”

“That’s because we’re soft and smooth ourselves, thanks to the spa treatment we got,” he said, lying down next to her.

She cracked an eye open and looked at him as he lay there, unmoving.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well, what?” he asked back, tilting his head to look at her.

“Aren’t you going to hold me?” she asked. “You know I’m going to move around all night if you don’t stop me.”

He smiled at her, but didn’t move. “I’ll do it when we decide it’s time to sleep,” he assured her. “Don’t you want to talk for a bit first?”

She closed her eyes again and nodded. “As if we didn’t talk enough,” she grinned. “What do you want to talk about?”

“We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” he replied sourly. “We can sleep too.”

She stretched a hand blindly and squeezed the first thing she found. It was a bicep. “Of course I want to talk to you,” she said coaxingly. “Always. What do you want to talk about?”

She felt him shrugging his shoulder under her fingers. “Life, work, health, _love_ …”

“Quite a variety of topics,” she pointed out sleepily. She was sure that she couldn’t follow any discourse at all now. She was full of food, tired, the bed was comfortable, and she felt her eyelids pressing on her eyes as if they were made of stone. “So many subjects… so many things to say…”

“I know,” he murmured. “You can choose one.”

She steered clear of the ‘love’ one, and of ‘work’, and she didn’t need to hear another rant about clean eating. “Life,” she yawned. “Talk to me about life…”

He chuckled softly. “Life, life, life…” he started, as if he was ready to throw himself into a philosophic treatise of the subject. “I can tell you that my life would be terribly dull without you, Lily.” He placed his hand over hers and held her tightly. “I would be lonely and unhappy.”

She hummed in reply, rubbing her thumb over his arm.

“Lily.”

“Hmm?”

“I love you… I really do…”

She was sure she had replied, “I love you, too,” out loud, but probably she had only thought it. She wasn’t worried, though, since he had told her that he loved her so many times already and she had always replied to him. She was sure he knew how she felt about him by now.

She fell asleep quickly, while Hugo turned to cage her in his arms and gave her a lingering kiss on her forehead.

***

When Lily woke up, Hugo was still sleeping next to her. His chest was pressed against hers, his breath was warm over her hair, and his arms were squeezing her possessively.

She yawned, raised her sleepy eyes to look at his face, and couldn’t help smiling. Hugo seemed blissful, and considering the fact that the sun was already filtering through the curtains and he hadn’t woken up yet, he was definitely feeling relaxed. He was usually up early, even on weekends, just to do some kind of exercise to keep himself on track. Therefore, Lily was happy to see him sleeping until late for a change.

And Lily felt so good in his arms that she really hoped he wouldn’t wake up for at least another hour. In fact, she snuggled even closer to him, smiled again, and kept staring at him while he slept peacefully.

She closed her eyes and imagined being back at the Burrow, with all her cousins giggling around her while she told them that she had woken up in the arms of a handsome young man, that he had hugged her through the night, and that she had stared at him sleep. Lucy would have probably commented that she was very romantic; Roxanne would have said that she was a creep, Rose would have wanted to know everything about him, and Dominique would have probably asked her if she had used protection. But what would they say if she told them that the handsome young man in question was Hugo?

“I know you’re awake,” Hugo mumbled suddenly, startling her out of her reverie. “Your breathing has changed.”

She sighed as he squeezed her in his arms. “Slept well?” she asked quietly.

“Very much, thank you. You?” He smiled contently and brushed his lips against her forehead, giving her the ghost of a kiss.

“So well,” she replied. “I was so tired yesterday; I think I even fell asleep while you were talking.”

“You most definitely did,” he agreed.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she yawned. “Missed anything important?”

It took him a few seconds to reply, and when he did, his voice was a bit throaty. “Nah.”

She didn’t reply, feeling in her guts that he was probably lying, but not wanting to press him and maybe ending up quarrelling again. “Alright,” she replied softly. “Shall we get up and have breakfast? We better have digested our food before we get the massage, you know and I can’t wait to get to the massage.”

“Hmm, you’re an expert, aren’t you?” he whispered. “Don’t ask her about healthy food, but she knows everything about massages, manicures, facials…”

“I just happen to like them, but I hardly ever go to a spa,” she protested quietly.

“No need to go to any spa, I can give you a massage every now and then if you like,” he whispered. “I know what to do.”

“I know, I remember,” she mumbled, feeling her cheeks getting hotter. She remembered _so_ well.

“Or I can give you a facial.” He squeezed her in his arms and laughed as she gasped. “I’m joking, I’m joking, I’m joking.”

She shook her head, her cheeks burning now as she pushed on his chest and wriggled free. “Ha, ha,” she deadpanned. “Get up and get ready. And stop being a—no! Hugo! Stop it! No tickles before breakfast! I’m still too sleepy to fend off your attacks! No!”

***

Breakfast was good, they ate a lot and then moved to the little back garden to spend some time playing Wizard’s Chess and sunbathing before their massage. After a couple of hours, Lily declared that they were ready for the _experience_.

They went back downstairs to the spa and were welcomed by a different masseuse, who led them to a quiet, little waiting room where she asked them a couple of questions – Would you prefer a woman or man masseuse? Any health problems we should know about? Would you like to share a room or would you prefer to have your separate rooms?

They both requested girls, and Lily glared at Hugo while he just smiled sheepishly at her. She thought straightaway about changing her choice when she imagined that some pretty, young girl would be rubbing her hands all over his oiled body, but she really didn’t want a man to massage her, not even when it was for the noble purpose of making Hugo jealous.

They were ushered to the changing rooms and given soft towels this time. Lily stripped completely and wrapped herself tightly in one. When she walked out once again, Hugo was already there, a short towel hanging around his hips and a smile over his face as he chatted up the masseuse.

Lily – for the sake of pretence, naturally – hurried to his side and enlaced her fingers with his, smiling rather coldly at the masseuse. “I’m ready,” she said. The girl had the decency to blush, nodded and turned away, preparing warm oils and smooth rocks to probably place on their backs.

They were both asked to lie down on the massage tables, and then another masseuse joined them and they were finally ready to start.

Contrary to the previous day, the massage went on in a quiet environment. The music and the perfumes in the air were much subtler and the girls didn’t even try to start a conversation with Lily or Hugo. They were very professional and Lily was happy for that.

They started with their backs, unknotting their muscles, massaging their skin with carefulness, covering them in oils. Then they moved down to their legs, moving a tiny towel around to cover their private parts as they massaged them thoroughly.

When they made them turn around, Lily felt boneless as she rolled over on the table like a sleepy Kneazle. The girl was very concerned with her modesty and covered Lily carefully and without ever touching her where Lily wouldn’t have liked to be touched.

And Lily was in absolute ecstasy during the whole treatment, and so was Hugo apparently, who at some point even started snoring lightly.

The bad thing was that it definitely ended too soon.

That was Lily’s only complaint.

***

The rest of the day went by too quickly for Lily’s liking. Lunch was delicious as always, and then they went into town for another little walk. She even managed to get herself a new pair of shoes, and Hugo only shook his head and sighed twice, but never actually pointed out that she had more shoes than probably all of their cousins put together.

At around four in the afternoon, they decided that it was time to go to the thermal baths, and Lily was actually excited to try out this new and relaxing experience. Apparently, all she had to do was sit in the stone pools or float about if she felt so inclined, while the curative warm waters worked their magic on her body.

She grabbed her flowery swimming suit from the wardrobe and Hugo carried the towels that had been placed in their room specifically for them to use downstairs, and finally they made their way to the thermal baths.

Once past the door that read ‘Thermal Baths’, Lily went right, into the ladies’ changing room, while Hugo had to go left.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” said Hugo, winking and smiling at her.

She smiled back and blew him a kiss before disappearing into the changing room. She quickly shed her clothes and slipped into her swimming suit. Then she proceeded to wrap the towel around her body and walk with a big smile on her face towards the passageway that led into the baths. She could smell the sour scent of warm mineral water and salt as she approached the door. She pushed aside the curtain that was hanged on the passage and… she gasped and cried in surprise as she was pushed back and down to the floor!

“Ouch!” she protested as she sat up. She looked at the passage in front of her, it didn’t have a door, but for some reason that Lily couldn’t fathom it had some sort of spell on it.

She darkened and stood up, walking back to it a bit more gingerly; she stretched a hand without actually going through it, and an angry burst of magic warned her not to even try to walk through it.

She looked outraged at the opening and turned on her heels as she walked out of the changing room from the way she got in. She tightened the towel around herself as she made her way into the spa and looked for a masseuse.

She cleared her throat loudly. “Excuse me?” she called more than

 once, but nobody seemed to hear her. She walked to the waiting room and had to wait a few minutes before a girl would finally join her.

“Oh, Mrs Weasley,” said one of the girls who still seemed to believe that she was Hugo’s wife and… forty-three years old. “Hello, how may I help you?”

“Hem, yes,” she said, fidgeting nervously with the towel. “I’m encountering a little problem in the thermal baths. There’s some sort of spell that won’t let me get from the changing room to the baths. Can you do something, please?”

The girl blinked and furrowed her brow before looking down at her shoulders where the flowery straps of her swimming suit were visible. “Hmm, is that what you’re wearing for the baths?”

She blushed and wrapped the towel even more tightly around her, until she had to gasp to take a breath. “Yeah, why?” she asked defensibly.

The girl smiled. “Is it your first time in our thermal baths?” she asked. “I’m afraid we have a very strict policy about clothes and swimsuits.”

Lily’s lips rounded in surprise. “Oh, but… this is not… not revealing at all,” she assured her. Honestly, her mother had bought it, and her father had approved it. She was sure Uncle Ron would approve it, too, if he saw it.

The girl’s smile became wider. “I’m sorry, I probably didn’t explain myself,” she said. “We can’t let anything impure touch the waters. We don’t allow any piece of clothing, towels, balls, beach games, masks, fins or wands into the water.”

Lily frowned. “How am I supposed to get in there without any article of clothing?” she asked.

The girl cocked her head gently. “Naked, Mrs Weasley,” she spelled it out for her.

Lily blinked at the news. “Oh, alright… like, everybody has their own little pool?”

“No.”

“So you have ladies and gents’ pools?”

“No.”

“Private pools?” she asked, her heart in her throat.

“No.” The girl smiled reassuringly. “Don’t you worry, Ma’am, the experience is very liberating and relaxing, and surprisingly private despite the lack of clothes. And you can bring a towel past the passage with you, you just can’t get it anywhere near the water.”

Lily looked at her, expecting the girl to burst into laughter and tell her that it was a joke. Instead, she just kept smiling and waited for Lily to ask any other question or add any other comment.

“Oh,” was all Lily could say. “I should probably go and find Hugo—Mr Weasley, I mean—he… I’m sure he won’t want to go in there at these conditions…”

The girl nodded. “Of course, Mrs Weasley, whatever you feel comfortable doing.”

Lily nodded back; she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and nodded once more before turning on her heels and walking gingerly back to the changing rooms. She thought she would find Hugo there, waiting for her and wearing his clothes, probably telling her just how bonkers those rules were.

Instead, he was nowhere to be found. She wondered if he had already gone back to their room, maybe looking for her. She decided that she would first go back to her changing room, change back into her clothes, then go, and find him.

She was right about to walk into the women’s changing room, when the men’s door swung open and a middle-aged man walked out, his skin slightly flushed and his expression peaceful as he towelled off his sopping hair.

“Excuse me,” said Lily politely. “Is there a very tall, very freckled, redheaded young man in there?”

The man looked at her and smiled affably. “Yes,” he replied. “In the pools, you mean.”

“The pools?” gasped Lily. “He’s… he’s _in_ the pools?”

The man nodded again. “And looking for a girl, apparently.” He winked at Lily. “Is that girl you?”

Lily ignored him. “Oh God, but is he… is he _naked_?”

The man chuckled at her surprise. “Yes, completely,” he said, “and all alone now that my wife and I have just gotten out.”

The women’s changing room opened too and a woman who looked just as blissful as her husband did walked out. She joined the man, smiled gently at Lily while her husband bid her farewell, and they held hands as they made their way upstairs, leaving Lily there to ponder what to do.

She couldn’t believe that Hugo had shed all his clothes and just walked in there without complaining. She couldn’t believe that he was seriously waiting for her to walk into the pools as well, butt naked. That was madness. She needed him to know that she was not going to do it. She was a modest person. She didn’t do these crazy things.

Of course, the only way to let him know was to walk in there and tell him. Well, she could do that. Oh yes, she shed the swimsuit and wrapped the towel around herself once more, this time walking briskly towards the passageway.

She closed her eyes as she walked out of the changing room, but now nothing happened and she was finally free to reach the pools without further accidents. She made her way on the warm stone floor, the smell of hot thermal water becoming stronger and stronger with every step she took.

Finally, the passage turned into a much wider room, with high, round ceilings and scattered of big and small pools.

“I thought you got lost!” exclaimed Hugo as she approached the pool where he was floating. “I was about to come looking for you.”

She stopped in her tracks and blinked, keeping her eyes on his face and not letting them wander down his naked body. He was seated inside the pool, with his naked arms leaning over the edge. His skin was slightly flushed and the thermal water didn’t look as cloudy as Lily had hoped.

She turned away from him. “What are you doing?” she asked, voice high.

“Hum… using the thermal baths as we decided?” he asked back, cocking an eyebrow.

“You’re naked!”

“Yes,” he replied, looking amused. “You have to be if you want to get in.”

“I don’t want to get in naked,” she snapped. “That’s… that’s ridiculous. Stupid rules. I just came in to tell you that I’m not coming in.” She furrowed her brow. “Into the pool, I mean.”

“Oh come on,” he said urgently, his fingers grasping the edge of the pool. “Lily, we’re here alone. Nobody is going to see you.”

“You are,” she pointed out. “You’re going to see me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t count…” he said softly. “I’ve already seen almost all of you anyway.”

She felt her face go up in flames. “Yeah, but not all,” she muttered, looking down at her toes that were twitching nervously on the warm floor.

There was a sloshing of water and Lily almost started when she felt Hugo’s wet hand under her chin.

“And you’ve already seen all of me,” he pointed out, making her look up again.

She kept her wide eyes on his face, and started to shake her head jerkily. “No,” she said, “no, no, no. This is making me really uncomfortable. I just know that I’m not going to enjoy it.”

Hugo smiled softly at her. “Listen, why don’t we do this? I’ll keep my eyes shut while you shed the towel and walk into the pool,” he suggested, “and once you’re well covered by the water and comfortable, I’ll open them again.” He raised a hand to quieten her before she could protest. “I swear that you can’t see anything: I was sitting between a husband and a wife a minute ago and I couldn’t make out an inch of their skin that was covered in water—not that I wanted to, but I was checking because I was worried that they could see me. But there’s quite a bit of vapour, you know?”

She bit her bottom lip and instinctively lowered her eyes, only to raise them again as soon as she caught a glimpse of his cock. “Damn it,” she muttered to herself. “You sure you can’t see anything?” she asked nervously.

He nodded and smiled. “Not a damn thing.”

“And you’re going to close your eyes?”

He walked back towards the pool and jumped in. When he re-emerged, he leant against the edge and closed his eyes. “Take your time,” he said.

She let out a soft whine, but she wanted to get in there, and she trusted him. If he said that one couldn’t see anything, it was surely like that. He wouldn’t just take advantage of the situation.

“Keep them closed!” she said, as she slipped the towel from around her body and placed it next to Hugo’s on a stool. She couldn’t help covering her breasts and between her legs with her hands and arms, though, as she made her way towards the pool. She found a couple of steps that led inside, and dunk her toes to test the temperature of the water. It was hot and now she could make sense of all those flushed people.

She walked gingerly inside and once the water covered up to her shoulders, she propelled herself forward to get closer to Hugo. She grasped the edge of the pool, pressing her chest against the stones and keeping her chest as close to it as possible. She glanced at Hugo, who was smiling with his eyes closed, and sighed. “You can open your eyes,” she said solemnly, pushing herself even closer to the stones.

He did and when he looked at her, clinging onto the stones for dear life, he grinned at her. “Oh Lily,” he said, getting closer to her. “You don’t have to stay like that, you can sit comfortably. I swear I won’t be able to see anything. Can you see me at all?”

She glared at him before looking down at his body covered with water. He was right, she couldn’t see anything, the water was really covered in a thin layer of steam that made it hard to see what was going on under the surface.

She was lost in her musings when his hands closed on her waist. She gasped and wiggled under the unexpected touch.

“Relax,” he said softly as he lowered his face to kiss her shoulder. “It feels good, doesn’t it?”

It did feel good, but Lily didn’t know if it was the water that felt good, or Hugo’s proximity. She felt torn: she was frantic to keep her arse away from his groin and, at the same time, she was trying hard to wriggle it a bit to touch him. What was wrong with her? She felt happy and scared at the same time. She was looking forward to his hands moving south or north, just like they had done many times in their flat.

Slowly, as if he had managed to read her thoughts, his hands travelled north, he grabbed her upper arms and gently made her turn, until her back was against the stones and she was facing him. “Can you see anything?” he asked softly.

She looked down at him, but she couldn’t see past the surface. She shook her head.

“Neither can I,” he assured her. “Will you relax now?”

She nodded and tried to smile a little. “Okay,” she murmured as he let her go and went to sit back on the steps. He patted the water next to him. “There’s a lower step, you’ll be covered up to your neck,” he said gently.

She crawled next to his leg before sitting with her side against his calf. “Alright,” she said, rubbing her feet against the uneven floor. “Now what?”

He grinned and slid down to sit over the step she was seat

ed as well, the water reached up to his chest. “Now we relax,” he said, closing his eyes and leaning back on his elbows. “Isn’t that why we’re here?”

“That’s why you are here,” she pointed out. “I’m not obliged to relax.”

He smiled, as he tilted his head back. “Yeah, but I can’t relax until you’re relaxed too,” he whispered. “Come on, there’s nobody but us, here. Just close your eyes and let the water soothe your body and soul.”

She glanced at his peaceful face and tried to imitate his position, but she was too short and almost drowned as she tried to tilt her head back. Instead, she sat up straight and let the water massage her and soothe her body as he had said.

It was nice, very relaxing once she got accustomed at being naked in a pool, and altogether an interesting experience. The water was warm and she felt a little like a carrot in a pot, but she enjoyed the sensations of the little bubbles on her skin.

“You’re turning a bit red,” said Hugo after a while, studying her skin closely. “It’s totally fine to get out for a bit and then come back, you know.”

“I’m fine,” she said calmly before eyeing him. “And you’re a bit flushed too.”

“I’m flushed because I have a pretty girl sitting next to me,” he said with a smile.

She bit her bottom lip; he was surely having her on. “Ha, ha,” was all she commented. She looked away from him and towards the other side of the pool; it looked deeper and she wondered if she could take a swim just to see if she could reach the bottom with her toes.

She pushed herself forward; swimming like Roxanne did when she didn’t want to get her hair wet: lazily splashing about like a Chihuahua.

“Where are you going?”

She turned to look at Hugo as she swam away. “To see how deep this pool is,” she replied. “I’ll be right back.”

She stopped every now and then to reach the bottom with her feet, and found that she could touch almost all the way to the other side. Once she reached the far end of the pool, she turned to wave at Hugo, only to find herself staring at an empty pool. She furrowed her brow and looked where their towels lay. Had he gone out for a bit? Was it getting too hot for him? But no, his towel was there and he would have told her if he had felt the urge to get some fresh air.

She kicked her legs under the water to stay afloat and then almost gasped in surprise as two hands closed on her waist.

“Bloody hell!” she muttered as Hugo planted a soft kiss on her navel before emerging in front of her.

“Hugo!” she snapped, grabbing his wrists. “You scared me! And… and I’m naked!”

“I had my eyes closed,” he said calmly. “This water is filled with minerals and it’s definitely too hot to keep your eyes open.” He grinned as he manoeuvred her hands to her sides, even when she was the one grasping him. “I bet the sight was breath-taking, though.”

She bit her bottom lip and blushed, hoping she could disguise her embarrassment for the heat coming from the water. “Stop it,” she said. “You’re not funny.”

“I don’t want to be funny,” he whispered, getting closer to her face. “I’m serious.” He lowered his head, until his lips were on her neck. “You’re so beautiful, Lily,” he murmured against her skin, “I’ve never seen anybody as beautiful as you are.” He kissed her neck and down to her collarbone, and she pushed herself upwards a little to ease his task.

She sighed in delight when he reached one shoulder and decided to kiss his way to the other one. Lily didn’t even notice that his hands had slipped in her grip, and their fingers were now enlaced as he pressed her back against the stones.

“What if someone comes in?” she whispered, taking a sharp breath as his chest pressed against hers.

“We’re just talking,” he murmured, biting lightly under her ear.

“You’re kissing me,” she pointed out breathily.

“That’s not against the rules of these thermal baths, I suppose.”

She looked at his face as he tilted his head back. He looked a bit hazy in the vapour coming from the pool, or maybe it was her eyes that had already glazed over. She felt good though. Hugo’s ministrations felt good, his hard chest pressing lightly against hers felt good, his fingers pressing her hands back like that felt good, too. She didn’t want him to stop.

In fact, she wanted him to keep going until they had to leave.

“God, your skin is so soft,” he whispered. His fingers slid out of hers and he grasped the edge of the pool at her back. She brought her hands instinctively to his waist and without a word drew him a bit closer to her.

She could feel him swallow near her ear as he leant his cheek against hers.

“Tell me that there’s a letter somewhere,” he murmured, “where someone wants to know what it feels like to make love in a pool…”

She wished there was a letter too, but this time it wasn’t that easy. “ _I_ want to know,” she whispered, raising her arms to wrap them around his neck and mimicking the movements with her legs around his waist.

He let out a groan and pressed himself against her, and she could feel his cock, hard and long, trapped between them.

“Are you serious?” he asked, one of his hands lowering between them. She could feel his knuckles brush against her inner thigh as he fisted his erection to guide it towards her.

She swallowed and nodded, words failing her at that moment. Oh God. Were they really about to do it? Were they going to make love in that pool? A second before they were swimming, and now…

She felt the butterflies in her stomach swirling their wigs uncontrollably, while the blood was pulsing loudly in her ears.

“Lily…” whispered Hugo against her skin as he pushed his hips forward. “God, I want that too…”

She let out an embarrassing little groan and closed her eyes as Hugo’s lips closed on her neck and bit her gently.

Suddenly, all her world was reduced to Hugo and the butterflies in her stomach and the water sloshing slowly around them and the… voices of the two women walking idly towards the pool.

“Shit,” gasped Lily, shoving on Hugo’s chest and diving to her chin in the water.

Hugo let her go promptly and turned around, his face red, his eyes wide as he looked at the two naked elderly ladies that made their way to the steps that led into the pool.

“Shit,” he echoed her, his voice tight with disappointment. He nodded and muttered a greeting when the women saw them, and Lily did too. “Shall we go back to our room?” he whispered, looking at her with a lopsided grin.

Lily looked at him, eyes wide. “No!” she muttered. “How can you get out of the water in… in your state? They’re going to know what was going on if you parade in front of them like that, don’t you think?”

His face darkened and he growled, “I didn’t think about that.” He leant his back against the edge of the pool. “We might be in here for quite a while, then,” he announced.

“Do you need help?” she asked in a whisper. “Think about Grandma Molly getting dinner ready, your parents telling you that you’ll get Dragon Pox if you wank too much, Rose in her pink pyjamas with sleepy cats, my Mum—”

“Alright, alright,” he grunted. “You’re evil.”

She looked up at him with her most innocent smile. “I’m just trying to help. Is it working?”

“Of course it is,” he sighed. “You had me at Grandma.”

They stayed in silence for a while, their eyes trained on the two naked women who looked very comfortable sitting there with only their feet in the water while they chatted about their grandchildren.

“Shall we go? We can get an early dinner and go back home right afterwards,” she muttered after a long while. “I have to pop into the newsroom tomorrow morning to get the letters, and I don’t want to go to bed too late.”

“But you’re still spending the day with me, aren’t you?” he asked anxiously.

She looked at him and smiled. “All day. I promise.”

He seemed to relax. “Good,” he murmured before sliding an arm around her shoulders and planting a chaste kiss on the top of her head. “I love you.”

“Love you right back,” she whispered against his neck.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for a tiny sex scene in this chapter. It's short, but it's as explicit as always.

***

Lily was disappointed to find twelve letters in Lavender’s office on Monday morning. She had no time to dedicate to them that week. First, she had promised Hugo to spend the day with him; Tuesday there would be the trials, then Hugo would be busy with interviews and photoshoots and Lily would be busy with getting ready for the last portrait session and then the party. Then, they both would be too excited about Hugo’s new life, and too busy celebrating the beginning of his career as a Quidditch player to care about the letters.

She sighed. Well, she would have to work on them all by herself in the spare moments that she could find, but at that very moment she was rather distracted by… by _life_.

She sat down heavily on Lavender’s chair.

 _Life. Yeah, right_. She shook her head. _Love_. Distracted by love was more appropriate.

She felt like an idiot. She was the one who had booked a romantic holiday for the two of them, and now she was disappointed that their weekend hadn’t ended up with sex. They had been that close in that pool, and Lily had felt blissful in Hugo’s arms as he kissed her and pressed her back against the warm stones.

Bloody hell! Could it be that sex was what she had wanted all along? Could it be that she had bought the romantic weekend and asked him to hold her through the night because she wanted to have sex with him? Yes, just for once without the hassle of the letters. And no, not _just_ sex… _Love_. She wanted to… to make love to him.

Oh God! But she couldn’t! Lavender had told her to follow her heart, but her heart was definitely an idiot. She couldn’t be in love with her cousin. That was not normal.

Lily groaned out loud. But she was. Oh, she so desperately was! And now, all she wanted to do was to go to him and ask him if he was in love with her, too.

He loved her all right; he had said that many times already, but she was sure he loved every member of their family equally. On the other hand, she was also sure that he would never have sex with any other of their cousins. He had looked almost horrified when she had suggested that.

But she couldn’t… she couldn’t go up to him, ask him to sit down and pour out her heart’s content to him. What if he didn’t feel anything like that for her? What if it really was just to help her with the letters? Or what if it wasn’t and he just wanted to have fun with her? Maybe he just found her attractive, she could say that in the privacy of her own head without sounding too smug, and he was still a teenager, after all, a tight ball of hormones and testosterone. Maybe he just needed her to blow off some steam, or maybe she just was his pastime. He didn’t even have to do it with malice, really, she was just too willing to have fun with him, too. She blushed and groaned again, hiding her face in her hands.

But it wasn’t just fun for her, or just about the letters. She had all the signs of lovesickness; she was deeply, painfully, dangerously in love with him. And it was scary to think that she didn’t know if he felt the same way for her. But telling him how she felt was even scarier than not telling him. What if he was horrified by her confession, what if he asked her to get out of the flat? What if she was going to lose her best friend? She couldn’t do it, she couldn’t, she couldn’t. She couldn’t tell him. She just had to suffocate her feelings. She was good at that, she had done that all summer long.

She nodded and stood up, resolute not to yield to her feelings.

Hugo would never ever know how she felt about him.

***

Derek was working on the Tuesday edition of his comic strip when she knocked on his door. His fingers were stained with ink and his eyes shone when she walked into his office.

“Lily!” he exclaimed, standing up. “You’re back! Did you have a nice weekend?” He went to kiss her cheeks with his usual enthusiasm.

She smiled gently at him and nodded. “It was really nice, thank you,” she replied. “Bath is a cool city, and we had massages, spa treatments, and entrance to the thermal baths included in the hotel package.” She sighed at the memory. “It was so relaxing.”

Derek grinned. “Did Hugo manage to relax? Tomorrow is the big day, isn’t it?”

She nodded. “Yeah, he was quite relaxed,” she said. “He didn’t do any training at all, though, and when I left this morning he was doing some stretches and complaining that he felt too relaxed and not coordinated at all.” She rolled her eyes jokingly. “I’m sure he’s going to say it’s all my fault for every Bludger that he misses tomorrow.”

“But if he gets picked you have to remind him that it’s all because of the relaxing weekend you’ve made him spend,” he pointed out.

“He’ll get picked,” she said seriously. “Speaking of that, I’ve made a tiny little mess…”

He furrowed his brow, cocking his head slightly. “What did you do?”

“I told you that I was free on Wednesday because I thought that the party was the day of the trials, but I was wrong, it’s the day after,” she sighed. “Hugo was quite upset that I forgot such an important detail, naturally.” She rolled her eyes at the thought of their quarrel. “Anyway, do you think that you can finish the portrait before eight?” she asked softly. “Because I kind of told him that I would be home before that time so that we could Floo together to Oliver Wood’s house for the party.”

“We can move it up too if you want, Lily,” said Derek sensibly. “I’m free tonight, or tomorrow, if you’d rather.”

She shook her head. “That’s a brilliant idea, isn’t it? That’s what I suggested to him, too, but naturally he was so angry that he didn’t even listen to me, so I ended up telling him that I bet you could finish the portrait before eight and that I wouldn’t be late to the party… which starts at eight sharp.”

Derek furrowed his brow. “So you want to show him that you didn’t make a mess, right?”

“Exactly,” said Lily. “Is it doable? Do you think I can come to yours a bit earlier? Just to make sure that I’ll be on time for the party, I mean… If we could finish around seven thirty, it would be awesome. Super awesome really…”

“Yes, no problem,” he replied. “We’ll finish earlier and you won’t be late, I promise.”

She grinned and threw her arms around his neck in an impulsive gesture. “Thank you, Derek, you’re the best!” she said, kissing his cheeks before bolting away. “I’ll see you on Wednesday, then!”

“Wish good luck to Hugo from me,” he said.

“I will. Thank you!”

He nodded and smiled and Lily giggled like a little girl as she walked out of his office.

***

Hugo had already retrieved Rufus when she got home and the little ball of fur jumped around her ankles, rubbing his nuzzle insistently against her feet as soon as she walked through the door.

“He’s been a very good Kneazle, my mum said,” announced Hugo. “He didn’t give them any problem at all.”

“Sweet,” said Lily, crouching down to scoop him up in her arms and going to the kitchen. “Are you making lunch? Already?”

“I’m making a snack,” he replied, slicing a tomato into thin layers. “Want some?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Why not?”

“Something small,” he added. “Cause we’re invited to lunch.”

“Where?”

“The Burrow,” he said, “and dinner we’re at my parents’ with your parents, too.” He Summoned four slices of bread and placed the tomatoes on them, then added oil and spices and some mozzarella cheese on top. “And Rose wants to have drinks before dinner.”

Lily rubbed Rufus’ belly. “What? Do they understand that you have to relax before your big day?”

He shrugged a shoulder as he covered the layer of mozzarella with the other slice of bread. “I think that that’s their idea of relaxing,” he said, offering her a sandwich. “Inviting us to have food or drinks with them, so that we don’t have to cook.” He bit down on his sandwich. “And I guess they want to wish me good luck, too…”

“Derek wishes you good luck,” said Lily suddenly.

Hugo looked at her over his sandwich. “Did you talk to him? About Wednesday I mean.”

“Yes,” she replied, “and he said that I can go over a bit earlier and we’ll be done in time for the party. Solemnly swear.” She placed a hand on her heart for good measure.

“Alright,” he replied. “Remember that it’s very important to me.”

“It’s very important to me, too, Hugo,” she said seriously. “It’s your big moment. I want to be there with you.”

He smiled. “Cheers, Lils.”

“Any time, Hugo.”

***

Lunch at the Burrow was delicious. Grandma Molly and Granddad Arthur showered them with love, food, and advice for Hugo about what to do the following day, based on what her mother had done for her own trials.

Relax, was the main suggestion. Don’t worry because he was surely going to get picked because he was the best player the whole world had ever seen, was the most repeated thing. 

Lily just nodded and agreed with them continuously, until Hugo plead her to shut up. “Stop jinxing it,” he whispered to her while Grandma Molly was in the kitchen, and Granddad Arthur was going on and on about some sort of Muggle game similar to Quidditch, except it had no brooms, only one ball, two players and they played it with rackets. It was called squash apparently.

“I’m not saying anything,” she giggled.

He shook his head and kept eating, but he was tense and Lily could see it.

They stayed at the Burrow until late that afternoon, walking around the garden, dunking their feet in the pond, and chatting with their grandparents, and they left only when it was time to meet Rose for drinks.

Rose wasn’t alone, naturally, Scorpius, Louis, Albus, and Lucy were with her, and they all sat down at the Leaky Cauldron to chat and drink and wish good luck to Hugo.

“Everybody is coming tomorrow,” said Albus, “to cheer you. What time is your turn exactly?”

“Late afternoon. Apparently around five, but I might be even later,” he said. “I’m the last one.”

“We’ll be there,” assured Lucy with a grin.

“Yeah, even James is coming,” said Louis. “He said that himself.”

Hugo’s eyes darted to his cousin, lips parted and bottle of Butterbeer still in his hand.

“Well, of course he’s coming,” said Lily, furrowing her brow. “Why wouldn’t he come?”

Louis looked from Hugo to Albus to Scorpius, who exchanged more wide-eyed glances, but nobody replied to her question. She looked at Lucy, who was biting down hard on her bottom lip, and at Rose, who was staring into her Butterbeer with interest.

“What’s wrong?” insisted Lily. “Why wouldn’t James come to cheer Hugo? He’s his cousin.”

“Yeah,” mumbled Louis. “It was a stupid thing to say… I mean, of course he’s coming, I don’t even know why I said that… Everybody wants to come to cheer you, Hugo. Woot-woot!” He took a long gulp from his bottle and when he was finished, he mumbled that he had to go to the loo and disappeared before Lily could even ask him what the problem was.

“Louis can be an idiot,” chuckled Scorpius nervously. “Right, love?”

Rose smiled weakly and nodded. “Hey, Hugo, you know what my colleague said about Puddlemere? That their manager is probably going to change their brooms this year. They’re getting the latest Firebolt that are going to be commercialised only next year.”

Lily slid from her chair as the whole table boomed with gasps and little excited shouts of surprise. Yes, it was the best news ever, but she had to corner Louis and make him spill the beans about what he had meant at the table. Did Hugo and James have a row? Hugo hadn’t told her anything, why wouldn’t he? She expected he would confide in her at all times, and instead this was already the second time that he kept something from her.

She stood in front of the men’s restroom, arms folded over her chest, feet wide and eyes narrowed as she waited for her cousin to get out of there. It didn’t take long, he had probably faked the emergency just to get up and slide away from the table.

His blue eyes opened wide when he saw her standing there, and he almost stepped back inside in surprise. Lily didn’t mind, in fact she pushed him back and closed the door at her back as she stepped into the lavatory as well.

“Spill the beans,” she thundered.

He swallowed and tried to smile. “The beans? What beans?”

“Louis!”

“Oh sodding hell! I’m an idiot.” He looked at Lily, apparently trying to plead with his eyes to let him go. “I can’t,” he groaned. “I promised.”

“Tell me right now, or I swear to Merlin I’m going to slap you so hard you’ll have a permanent five-fingered tattoo on your cheek,” she snapped.

His face darkened, but he looked completely unfazed by her threat. “I can’t,” he repeated. “Hugo is going to kill me.”

Lily’s lips parted in surprise. “What? Why?”

“Because… he wants to tell you himself,” he sighed. “As soon as he is ready.”

Lily blinked at him, confused by his words. Hugo wanted to tell her something? But he wasn’t ready to tell her whatever he had to say to her? Why? She was ready. Whatever it was he had to tell her, she was ready. Why wasn’t he ready?

“Listen, don’t push it,” he said gently. “He’ll tell you when he’s ready. I promise.”

“Is it something bad?” she asked, her voice panicky.

He shook his head hastily. “No, no.” He smiled at her. “It’s something good, I swear.”

***

Lily stared at Hugo throughout the whole dinner, completely lost in her thoughts; she barely registered any conversation going on. She just couldn’t think about anything but Louis’ words and Hugo’s embarrassed smile when they got back from the toilet. And then his voice, a bit high-pitched as he asked her if she wanted him to Apparate the two of them. When he wrapped his arms around her body, she hugged him back and closed her eyes, leaning her head on his chest.

Then it was all a continuous chatting, laughing, and asking questions. All about Hugo, how he felt, if he was ready for the following day, if he had managed to relax at all during the weekend.

He kept forcing out smile after smile, and every now and then he praised Lily, startling her out of her thoughts every time he said her name and bumped his knee into hers.

“Uh?”

“I just said that our weekend was really relaxing,” he grinned. “Thanks to you choosing the perfect holiday package.”

She blushed at the thought that it was the romantic weekend he was talking about and nodded softly, smiling back and hoping nobody would ask her what kind of holiday she had booked.

A couple of times her mother or Aunt Hermione tried to engage her in conversation, but after she had given only one-word replies they seemed to give up and laughed off her silence with the explanation that she was probably more nervous than Hugo about tomorrow.

Lily was fine with that explanation, too. She was nervous for him, she really was, but right now all she wanted was to let Hugo know that she knew that he wanted to say something to her, and that he could say it anytime. She was there for him, no need to be shy or keep secrets from each other.

And that was exactly what she did. As soon as the interminable dinner ended and Aunt Hermione had hugged her son as if there was no tomorrow, while Uncle Ron and her dad dished out all sorts of last minute Quidditch tactics, and her mother whispered to Hugo to just do his thing. After the longest goodbyes Lily had ever assisted to, they finally grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder each and went back to their flat.

The moment they were standing in their living room, Lily turned to look at him, eyes wide. “Louis told me,” she blurted out without being able to restrain herself. She stared at him as he stiffened every muscle of his body and looked back at her with dread.

“What?” he groaned. “I’m going to kill him.”

She shook her head. “He didn’t tell me-tell me,” she corrected. “He said that there’s something that you want to tell me, but that you’re not ready to tell me.” She took a deep breath. “I just want you to know that you can tell me everything, I am your best-friend, your favourite cousin, your flatmate, there shouldn’t be any secret between the two of us, and I just want you to know that whenever you’re ready to tell me, I’m here, okay?”

He seemed to relax a little, his lips curving upwards in a soft smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re not sick, are you?” she asked quickly. “I mean, you’re not about to die or anything like that, right? Because Louis said it’s something good, but… but I don’t know if he just didn’t want to scare me or something or—”

“I’m not,” he said, his voice gentle and sweet. “I’m definitely not about to die, don’t worry.”

She nodded and bit down hard on her bottom lip. “Okay,” she murmured. “I trust you.” She looked at him and smiled shyly. “So it’s something good?”

Hugo swallowed. “Is that what Louis said?” he asked back.

She nodded again, eyes wide, hoping that that would make him talk.

“Then it’s something good,” he murmured, smiling. “Lily?”

“Yes?”

“Can I sleep with you tonight?”

“Oh Merlin! Of course you can!” she exclaimed. “You actually _have to_ , because I want to be the first one to wish you good luck tomorrow morning and I’m sure I would never wake up on my own.”

“Are you coming with me to the stadium?” he asked quietly.

“Can I?” she asked back.

He nodded. “You will have to take a seat up the terraces; you won’t be able to come into the changing rooms, but you can definitely come with me,” he said. “I have to be there at eight, though; I don’t know if that’s too early for you or…”

“It’s perfect,” she replied. “I would come with you even if it was five in the morning.” She gasped softly, remembering something. “And I almost forgot that I have to stuff my father’s cloak into my bag! I am definitely coming to congratulate you after you’ve been picked.”

“If I’m—”

“You will be picked,” she cut him off. “Anyway, I’ll feed Rufus and then shall we turn in?”

“Sounds like a great idea,” he yawned. “Even though I didn’t do much, I’m knackered.”

“It must be the tension,” she said sensibly. “Do you want a massage?”

“Nah, let’s just go to bed,” he replied. “We can chat for a bit, that always relaxes me.”

She nodded. She wouldn’t have minded giving him a massage. She had liked giving it to him the first time, but had liked it even more when he was the one massaging her. He used the bathroom while Lily fed Rufus, then she used it and when she came back to her room, he was already under the covers, grinning up at her and with his arms folded under his head.

Lily grinned back. “You look happy,” she said, sitting on the bed before sliding under the covers as well. He didn’t waste any time and wrapped his arms around her, smothering her in his tight embrace.

“I am,” he whispered against her neck. “Being here, so close to you… it’s like coming home. Every time.”

She melted a bit at that, but bade the butterflies in her stomach to be still. “You are home,” she whispered.

“Lily?”

“Hmm?”

“I was… I was wondering if you… if you wanted to go out… For dinner, you know. Like… with me.”

She furrowed her brow. They went out for dinner almost every week. “Tomorrow? I thought you were all busy with the interviews and photoshoots,” she said.

He took a deep breath, as if to find the courage to go on. “No, not tomorrow… just, you know… maybe this weekend…”

“To celebrate the fact that you’ll be picked for the team?”

He nodded, but didn’t reply out loud.

“Yeah, of course I’ll go out with you,” she said. “We haven’t gone out in… Alright, we ate out last night at the hotel…”

Hugo laughed nervously. “Yeah,” he said, his voice throaty. “You know what? Maybe I’ll tell you at the party…”

“Tell me what?” she asked. “The thing? The thing that Louis didn’t tell me?”

“Yeah,” he said. “The party sounds good.”

Now it was her time to squeeze him in her arms. “I can’t wait,” she said, kissing his cheek.

“Great, me neither.”

They went on talking until Lily couldn’t remember when, only that at some point their voices became gradually more slurred and their words sparer, and then they both fell asleep.

***

Lily was roused from her sleep by Hugo’s alarm. The ball floated over her head and Hugo was definitely not quick enough in turning it off, since his movements were too jerky and nervous.

He still had one arm around her, pressing her to his chest as if she was a comforting soft toy and he was a little boy in need of comfort. She was squished so good, though. Even though the arm that was pressed against his tense muscles was all numb now and she couldn’t move; nevertheless, she wouldn’t have wanted to get up from that bed even if she could have.

“You’re tense,” she whispered drowsily. “I can feel your muscles, they’re like a vice.”

“Am I hurting you? Sorry.” He unwrapped his arm from around her, rolling over until he was lying on his back. His voice was perfectly clear, as if he had been awake for much longer than Lily.

She pouted slightly. “That’s not what I said,” she whispered, following him and throwing her arm over his ribs as she leant her head over his chest. “I liked it.” She raised her hand on his shoulder and closed her fingers around his muscles. “But you’re tense. You’re hard…”

His chuckle low in his throat made her understand what she had said.

“Not _that_ —I didn’t mean _that_!” she protested, feeling her cheeks going up in flames. She slapped his shoulder and rolled away from him, but he followed her until he was spooning her from behind.

“I know,” he said, clutching her in his arms once more. “I’m childish,” he pushed himself against her from behind. “But it made me laugh because I do have a bit of a stiffy…”

She bit her bottom lip as he pressed his erection against her arse, but she pressed back, until he groaned in her ear.

She swallowed. “That would make you feel better, wouldn’t it?” she said softly.

“What?” he breathed.

“If I helped you with that problem, you would feel… less tense, right? More relaxed…”

He hummed in reply.

She pushed back more insistently, this time just to make him move though. “Roll over onto your back,” she whispered, “and lie down.”

He took his time to unwind his arms from around her body, sliding his fingers all over her ribs, as if to silently count them. Then she felt the shifting in the mattress and when she turned and sat up, she found him looking up at her with eyes hooded and lips parted.

“You’re sure?” he asked in a whisper.

She smiled gently as she lay down next to him and propped herself on an elbow. “I don’t want you to have to take a cold shower first thing in the morning,” she replied.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he murmured.

She lowered her eyes to his naked chest and placed her hand on his neck, slowly sliding her fingers south, touching every muscle and every bone with the lightest caresses.

He contracted his muscles in restrained laughter when she reached his navel. “It tickles,” he chuckled, but fell silent when she followed the red down to his groin and slid her hand under the elastic band of his pyjamas.

She closed her fingers around his cock, feeling every vein and every ridge under her digits, and rubbed her thumb over the head. She was delicate and firm, slow and thorough. She reached every inch of his erection and her palm became sticky with pre-come in a matter of minutes.

Suddenly, Hugo was all groans and pants and little shoves of his hips to send his cock deeper into her grip. Lily stared at his flushed face, his parted lips, his hands gripping the pillow under his head, his closed eyes, and she knew she had never seen anything more beautiful.

His cock was hard and warm and velvety and she didn’t even have to move his pyjamas aside as she touched him. She stroke him slowly and with purpose, going back to do the same things she had done with her hands when she had given him head, listening to his groans and sighs and knowing where he liked to be touched the most without even having to look.

She smiled and leant in his touch when one of his big hands gripped her hip as if his life depended on it. “Lily, I’m coming,” he breathed, pumping his hips uncontrollably. “I’m… shit, shit, _shit_ …”

She felt the string of sticky come spurting on her fingers while all his muscles went rigid for a moment before relaxing completely. She kept leisurely stroking him through his orgasm and even afterwards, as she lay down next to him and he wrapped an arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

“Thank you,” he breathed, his voice still ragged. “Fuck, that was good…”

She kissed him back on his chest. “Feeling better?” she asked softly.

“Much better,” he replied. “I’m so relaxed now that I don’t even remember what I have to do today. Can we stay in bed all day?”

She let his cock go and wiped her hand over his pyjamas before punching his shoulder jokingly. “No!” she giggled. “You have the Puddlemere managers and captain to impress today.” She snuggled closer to him. “Tomorrow, we’ll stay in bed all day,” she added in a whisper.

“I’ve got the photoshoots and interviews tomorrow,” he reminded her, “and the party, if I’m picked.”

“The day after tomorrow, then,” she said. “Or this weekend. Yes, we’re going to spend the whole weekend in bed.”

“I like the sound of that,” he murmured, squeezing her.

“Me too,” she agreed. “Now go and get a shower, and I’ll make us breakfast.”

He tilted his head back to have a look at her. “You’ll make us breakfast? I thought you wanted me to go to the stadium not St Mungo’s.”

Her jaw dropped as she sat up. “You horrible…” But then her words trailed away as he started to tickle her to death, and she melted in a fit of giggles.

***

“Lily! Lily! Merlin, you’re here early!” Uncle Ron, followed closely by Aunt Hermione, made his way towards Lily on the still relatively empty terraces. “What time did you get here?”

She moved her bag, which was stuffed with the banner she had hastily prepared and her father’s cloak, from the seat right next to her and let Uncle Ron squeeze himself between her and Aunt Hermione.

“I came with Hugo,” she replied. “We were here at eight—twenty to eight, actually, he was a bit nervous.” Yes, he was still nervous, even after she had lent him a helping hand that morning, but she couldn’t blame him, she was nervous, too.

Uncle Ron looked at her, eyebrows high on his freckled forehead. “You came with Hugo?” he said slowly. “Yes, I suppose that’s normal since the two of you live together.”

“Ron,” whispered Aunt Hermione harshly before looking over at Lily. “Did he sleep well? Was he nervous?”

She nodded. “A bit yes, he was up much earlier than me.” She looked down at the people in the stadium, small as ants from up there. Some of them were on their brooms, some others were throwing the Quaffle around, some others were stretching and warming up. Hugo was amongst them, even though he would have to wait until later that evening for his turn, he was already jogging about the pitch. Restless.

Lily fidgeted nervously in her lap, all she wanted was to be down there with Hugo, even if, when she had stood with him in front of the main door and proposed she sat down in the pitch with him while under her father’s cloak, he had dismissed that idea. Then he had hugged her so forcefully she had to gasp breathlessly, and whispered that the thing he most looked forward to was seeing her again after the trials, however they went.

She wanted that, too. So much that her heart ached with desire to hug him again. And she was so nervous that she kept moving and sighing and jumping every time something happened in the stadium.

She was staring so intently down at the players that she didn’t even notice when her father arrived, or when Rose and Scorpius sat right next to her. Or when Grandma sat behind her and started to dish out small loafs of bread filled with scrambled eggs and crispy bacon.

“Lily. Lily!”

She started when Uncle George called her, and she had to turn and locate him in a mass of redheads and freckled faces. “Oh!” she exclaimed as she noticed that most of her family was there. “When did you arrive?”

They all started to reply to her in a disorganised mess. She didn’t understand much, but she didn’t quite care when they had arrived, they were there now and she was happy to see that they all wanted to support Hugo.

“When is Hugo’s turn?” asked Uncle George.

“Oh, this evening,” she replied. “He’s the last one; they’re going in alphabetical order.”

“What? Blimey, Ron! Couldn’t you take Hermione’s name like we all thought you’d do?” grunted Uncle George.

“Hey!” snapped Uncle Ron unimpressed, while the others laughed. Even Granddad Arthur chuckled fondly at that. “Blessed are the last,” he said as he opened the Daily Prophet and started to read.

“Where’s my mum?” asked Lily as she looked around herself.

“Mum is with the press,” replied James, while he sat down next to Fred. “She’s got the best view and the most comfortable seats.”

Lily turned to look at her brother, eyes wide. “James! You came!” she exclaimed.

James furrowed his brow and tried to look surprised at her tone of voice, the flush that was creeping up his neck and face told a different story, though. “Of course,” he grunted. “He’s my cousin, too, not just yours, Lily.”

She stared at him for some long seconds, but when a loud voice resounded in the stadium and John Abbott was called to start his trials, everybody’s attention reverted to the players.

John trudged into the centre of the pitch, his broom in his hand.

Lily couldn’t make out his expression, but he seemed rather pale even from afar. The judges – Oliver Wood and other three people that Lily didn’t know nor had ever heard Hugo talk about – sat at the far end of the pitch, looking serious and very intimidating.

“Please, mount your broom, Mr Abbott,” said a woman in a shrilly voice.

John did as he was told, and looked at them for further directions.

“What position are you auditioning for, Mr Abbott?”

“Keeper,” he replied, his voice throaty with nervousness.

The judges nodded, then five smug-looking players wearing the Puddlemere uniform walked into the pitch and mounted their brooms as well.

“That’s Benjy Williams, from the team,” said Rose, pointing to an older player.

“Yeah,” replied Uncle Bill. “They’re going to play against him, pretend that’s a real match, and test his skills.”

They followed the players with their eyes as they took off.

“That’s the actual difficulty,” he went on. “They’ve never played like this before; their stress level will go up and the judges will evaluate their skills as well as their ability to focus under pressure.”

Lily bit down hard on her bottom lip and looked at Hugo. He was good, no he was more than good; she had no reason to worry. He would keep his stress level to a minimum and just do his thing and be picked before Lily could even understand what was happening.

“Take off,” ordered the woman, and Lily’s eyes followed John as he did. The whole stadium fell silent, as if family members, friends, and players were all focused on the first trial of the day to try to understand how it would progress and how long it would take.

John Abbott took off, oscillating nervously, and when he flew in front of the hoops, Lily could finally see his face and notice just how ghastly he looked. The professional players took off with much more ease and started to throw the Quaffle to one other at such speed that John’s head seemed to loll on his neck as he kept up with them.

Then two Bludgers were sent in his direction. He dodged one while the other hit his foot and he swayed dangerously on his broom. Then, finally, the mock game actually started. The three Chasers threw the Quaffle towards John so many times that for a moment Lily thought that there was more than one ball in the pitch.

“Blimey,” muttered Roxanne at her back. “This is crazy.”

“Hugo’s gonna have a hard time with those guys,” said Louis, eyes wide as he followed the Quaffle.

“Hugo’s gonna be perfectly fine,” hissed Lily nervously. “He’s a great Beater, much better than those two!”

Nobody replied to her, but she heard a few whispers at her back. She couldn’t look away from the scene before her, though, especially now that John had been hit by a second Bludger. She couldn’t help thinking that it was going to be incredibly nerve-wracking to look at Hugo going through that in the afternoon. She wanted to bite through her nails while John was trying hard to save the Quaffle, and he was doing a pretty good job indeed, so she was probably going to make her fingers bleed once it would be Hugo’s turn.

One of the three Chasers sent a vicious ball towards John, he threw himself towards it, but missed it of a couple of inches and the Quaffle flew through a hoop, making the people in the stadium gasp while another Bludger hit his thigh.

John looked horrified, but instead of losing his cool, he seemed to tackle the next balls that were sent towards him with renewed effort. He looked like he was gripping his broom with all his might, his knuckles were visibly white even from a distance, and his face was tense and his hair wet where sweat was pouring down on his face.

The trial went on for more than half an hour, and when Oliver Wood called him back at the bottom of the pitch, Lily’s stomach was in knots at the thought that she would know the verdict in a matter of seconds.

John flew past the seasoned players, who patted his back and cheered him and told him he did great. He did do great, he had missed only a couple of Quaffles, and he had tried hard the whole time. They could not _not_ hire him.

“Mr Abbott,” started Oliver Wood gravely, “your flying technique is magnificent. We really appreciated your enthusiasm and the precision with which you deflected a couple of those Quaffles.”

“Thank you, Sir,” said John, voice throaty for, Lily was sure, he was waiting for a big “but” right there.

And surely enough, it came.

“But,” went on Mr Wood, “I’m afraid you’re too slow when it’s up to dodge Bludgers. You’ve been hit four times and you managed not to fall off your broom only because those were sent towards you with much less power than they would had this been an actual match.”

“I-I see,” he stammered, his voice a bit cracked.

“I’m sorry, Mr Abbott,” finished Oliver Wood, “but I’m afraid you’re not exactly what we’re looking for at this moment in time. We suggest you try again next year, maybe after you’ve worked on your agility.”

The stadium was so quiet that Lily could have heard a penny fall into the pitch. John seemed to have been petrified on the spot, his face horrified as he stood there, in front of everybody, and was rejected from the team.

Lily’s eyes searched apprehensively for Hugo. He was sitting on a bench, right next to Marie. His eyes were so wide, she could see the blue even from up there, and he was staring at John with a rather horrified expression, too. Of course he was horrified, he must have thought – just like everybody else – that John had done a great job up there, and Hugo must have been sure that he was going to get picked. And instead… _Oh Merlin!_

Lily shook her head. But Hugo was certainly better than John. She had seen them all play; Hugo was the best amongst them.

He was.

Wasn’t he?

She wasn’t so sure anymore. Probably, she was biased. Probably, she just convinced herself that he was the best because she loved him. Probably… No! No, no, no! She was sure he was the best, she was sure he was. She had played with them at Marie’s, and he was the best Beater ever. The best one in the world. Yes.

“That was harsh,” whispered Rose worriedly. “I thought he did a great job.”

Lily turned towards her and suddenly understood that people were talking to each other again now, and that all that tension had melted like snow in the sun. “I thought that, too,” she whispered back agitatedly. “Rose?”

“Yes?”

“I made a banner for Hugo,” she said, grabbing her bag. “Should we unroll it now? So that he can see it for the whole day?”

Rose furrowed her brow. “It’s a nice idea, Lily, but I don’t think it would be appreciated by the other players, and we wouldn’t want to distract them, right?”

Lily nodded a bit disconsolately. “Hugo told me not to put it up at all,” she admitted, “but I want to at some point. I want him to see it and know that I’m here for him.” She swallowed and looked at Rose with a sheepish smile. “ _We_. We’re here for him.”

Rose smiled back at her. “He knows that already, I’m sure about it.” She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her less forcefully than Hugo usually did. “He knows you’re here for him, Lily. Don’t worry,” she whispered in her ear.

“David Clark,” called the woman, and a small young man, with dark hair and a dark complexion strode towards the centre of the pitch with secure steps.

He was a Seeker, and his trial lasted half the time of John’s. According to the judges, he was too uncoordinated, too slow, too clumsy; and when he wasn’t picked, Lily started to panic.

“They’re too strict!” she whispered anxiously at Rose. “And too mean!”

***

Before lunchtime, when even the judges took a short break, they managed to go through eight more players. Only three got picked for the team, two tall guys who looked like they could as well have been twins, but weren’t, and a bulky young man who seemed slightly older than the other players. Everybody else was rejected based on the fact that they were too slow, too uncoordinated, not proactive enough, etc. And every time, Lily had to remind herself that Hugo was better than them: more agile, stronger, faster.

When a voice announced that they would stop for lunch, there were still almost twenty people who would have to go through the trials, the first one of them would be McLaggen, followed closely by Marie Moffatt, and to be honest, Lily wouldn’t mind one bit if she didn’t get picked. In fact, she was crossing her fingers that she wouldn’t.

“Where do we get lunch here?” asked Uncle Ron, looking around himself with eyes wide. Lily couldn’t tell if he was worried because of the harsh judgements the players were receiving or because there was the possibility that he would have had to skip lunch.

“I don’t know,” replied Aunt Hermione. “Is Hugo going to have lunch?” She looked down at her son, who was hugging in a manly way the last person that didn’t make it to the team. They were nodding, gesturing, and talking as if to tell each other to stay in contact. Hugo looked tense and particularly worried. “Shall we go down and ask him if he wants something? Maybe I could run back home and get him some high-protein snack.”

“I don’t think we can get down there, Mum,” pointed out Rose. “But I’m sure they’ll have access to some sort of food. They’re not going to let them starve to death, don’t worry.”

“They have the canteen,” piped in Lily, “but he always complains that the food is not the best. He brings his own from home most of the time. Oh Merlin! He’s going to be sick if he eats that crap.” She bit down hard on her bottom lip as she looked at the players standing up and going through a door, down in the pitch. Marie seemed to be laughing with Julia and Maggie, but they all looked rather tense and their laughter rather fake. Hugo was talking to McLaggen, but before he went through the door, he turned, looked up at her and smiled slightly.

Lily’s heart jolted in her chest and she waved shyly, but he disappeared so quickly that for a moment she wondered if she had just imagined it.

“I think I’ve seen a man with a tray of hot-dogs and sandwiches,” said Fred eagerly. “There he is.” He pointed to a man who was slowly making his way through the rows of hungry relatives and friends. Luckily, his tray seemed to refill magically with both food and drinks and nobody would have to be left empty handed.

Lily wasn’t hungry, though. She had her stomach in knots, and she imagined Hugo and all the other players sitting in the canteen and staring at their food without being able to take a bite either. She felt kind of privileged that she could connect to Hugo so deeply.

“Get something, Lily,” said her dad gently. “You’ll be hungry later on if you don’t.”

She shook her head, looking nauseated at the selection of sandwiches. “I can’t,” she complained. “I really don’t feel like eating, Dad.”

“How about I’ll get you something for later? I’ll keep it here and if you’re hungry you just tell me, okay?” He smiled at her, and Lily smiled back.

“Thank you, Dad, you’re the best.”

He nodded and got her a pumpkin juice and a sandwich. Everybody else got something, too, and they all started to eat, drink and chat gingerly, as if they were on holiday rather than at a nerve-wracking event that was going to determine Hugo’s future.

Lily couldn’t stand to see them all so relaxed. She stood up and told Rose that she was going to the loo; Rose nodded distractedly before going back to chat with her boyfriend. Lily walked to the nearest flight of stairs and climbed them down until she reached the toilets. Luckily, they were deserted. Everybody was probably fighting their desire to pee just to have lunch and keep looking at the trials.

She was okay; she wouldn’t take long. She wanted to see McLaggen’s trial, and she hoped with all her might that he would be picked. He was a good person and he was Hugo’s friend; they both had to be picked.

She washed her hands and sprinkled some water on her distressed face before walking out again and— “Ooof!” she complained as she bumped into a far taller and more solid body than her own. She looked up to meet a pair of eyes that were the same exact colour of hers. “James,” she said. “This is the lady’s restroom.”

He pressed his lips together, looking seriously at her. “What did Hugo tell you?” he asked unexpectedly.

“What?” she asked back, eyes wide.

“Why were you surprised that I’d come today? What did he tell you?” he asked again.

She shook her head. “Nothing. He didn’t tell me anything,” she replied. “He said he’ll tell me something, maybe tomorrow, but I don’t know if it’s about you.” She grinned at him. “He said it’s something good, so probably it isn’t, though.”

He didn’t seem amused. “Listen,” he said as seriously as she had never heard him talking to her. "I love you, okay? And I just want you to be happy and safe, that’s all, okay?”

She looked at him, eyes wide and mouth equally wide. “What?” she murmured in disbelief. “Are you feeling alright, James?”

“You’re my little sister, and I’ll kill anybody who hurts you or who so much as touches you against your will. And you can always, _always_ , come to me and tell me everything that happens. And if some guy makes you do something that you don’t want to, you tell me straight away, and your big brother will hex him so hard that he’ll never be able to mount a broom again. Do you understand me?”

She blinked. That conversation was surreal; she couldn’t believe it was actually happening. And what was the deal with Hugo in all of that? He hadn’t touched her – against her will – he hadn’t hurt her, why was James talking like that? What was happening? She didn’t know, and she couldn’t find the words to ask him in her stunned state, so instead she just nodded.

“Good,” muttered James, then, unexpectedly, he closed the distance between them and hugged her forcefully. “Good,” he repeated, caressing her hair.

Lily was quite shocked. She couldn’t remember the last time that James had hugged her like that. Probably, he had never hugged her like that at all, now that she thought about it.

When he slowly released her, she looked up at him with a little crease between her eyebrows, and he smiled almost paternally down at her.

“Shall we… uh… go back upstairs?” asked Lily quietly. “I don’t want to miss McLaggen’s trial.”

He nodded and they climbed up the stairs again to go back to the terraces. She felt a bit as if everybody’s eyes were on them as she walked past her family to sit back between Uncle Ron and Rose, but she didn’t have time to care too much, because McLaggen was already in the air, another Keeper to try out for the team and she hoped fervently that at least John would be picked.

“He looks quite smug,” said Uncle Ron dryly, “but he doesn’t look quite as good as a professional player. Just like his father.”

“Oh Ron,” said Aunt Hermione calmly. “He’s good, Lily and I saw him training with Hugo; he’s good. One of the best.”

“I’ve seen his father play at Hogwarts, remember? Not good enough to get into the team, right Harry?” he went on.

“Hermione had Confunded him, Ron. Do you remember?” asked her father back, an ill-concealed smirk over his face. “So that _you_ could get into the team.”

Uncle Ron blushed to the root of his hair, while Aunt Hermione gasped a, “Harry!” and looked sheepishly at her daughter, nieces, and nephews who were now staring at her in surprise.

“You did what, Aunt Hermione?” asked Fred, a grin creeping on his face.

“That’s so cool!” said Albus.

“And romantic,” added Dominique. “All for Uncle Ron!”

“Hey, I didn’t need her to—”

“Mum! I can’t believe you’d break the rules like that,” gasped Rose.

“I didn’t break the rules,” she pointed out. “It was just an innocuous little spell to help your father show his value at Quidditch. And McLaggen wasn’t that good anyway. Now, his son is much better.”

“I don’t think so,” grunted Uncle Ron.

“You don’t like him only because he was flirting with Auntie Hermione the other day, right Uncle Ron?” giggled Lily.

More surprised faces turned towards Aunt Hermione, who groaned, “Lily! He wasn’t.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t like him,” muttered Uncle Ron. “Same father, same son. _Wait!_ What did he do?”

Luckily, though, when the trial started, everybody fell silent and Lily was able to follow John with her eyes and focus on him and him alone. He was good: he was fast, precise, strong, and he flew with single-mindedly purpose. Of course, she had thought that about each and every single one of the people trying out for the team, and she had been proved wrong on multiple occasions, but now she really couldn’t find anything wrong with him.

The professional Chasers seemed to never tire, even though they had been playing ever since that morning, they seemed fresh and rested. And they looked extremely relaxed, especially compared to McLaggen who flew from left to right to the centre with eyes wide and jerky motions.

He threw himself in front of a hoop and was hit on his shoulder by the Quaffle, but dodged the Bludger that was sent his way almost at the same time. Then again, he flew to his right and used his broom like a bat to hit the Quaffle, but this time the Bludger managed to hit his ankle, making him wobble slightly. He threw himself forward immediately though, reaching for yet another Quaffle with his hand. This time he was able to even block it and throw it back to the Chasers, who gave him a thumbs up. He smiled and the crowd erupted in gasps as he got distracted and was hit by a Bludger right in his chest. He closed his eyes and for a moment he seemed to fall off, but before he could slid off the broomstick and whilst one of the Chasers was about to grab him, he steadied himself and opened his eyes again, his face a mask of pain but his teeth gritted in determination.

“Another one!” he screamed to the players, who looked at him surprised and slightly amused.

They didn’t have time to send him another ball, though, because they were called back to the pitch as the trial was brought to an end.

McLaggen took long to descend, flying left and right, steering at the last minute, and showing off his abilities and skills in all sorts of feints, until Mr Wood called him personally, his voice rather annoyed.

“Mr McLaggen,” he thundered. “When someone gives you an order, you’re expected to carry it out promptly.”

John steered his broom towards the ground, landing gracelessly but swiftly. “Sorry,” he mumbled meekly.

Lily bit her nails nervously as she stared at the scene.

“You’ve shown quite a lot of enthusiasm in your game,” he said. “You’re strong, focused, and we are impressed by your multi-tasking abilities.”

McLaggen hung his head. “But?” he groaned out throatily.

“No buts, Mr McLaggen. Welcome to the team,” said Mr Wood.

Lily jumped up, let out a shrill cry of happiness, and clapped her hands, just as almost all the rest of the people there did. Except for Uncle Ron, naturally, who darkened and told Aunt Hermione not to even think about inviting him to dinner.

McLaggen, in the meantime, was jumping up and down and throwing himself in a very funny-looking dance. Then he ran towards the others, and Hugo was the first one to jump up and chest bump him like an idiot.

Lily smiled fondly at the scene and decided she was going to chest bump – in a much gentler way – Hugo too, later that day.

“Silence,” called the woman. “Silence!” Then, once McLaggen had been ushered towards the door that led to the changing rooms, she called, “Marie Moffatt.”

Lily sat down again, her eyes two slits as she stared at Marie making her way towards the centre of the pitch, broom in her hand.

“Isn’t that the girl that Hugo invited to your party, Rose?” asked Uncle Ron, leaning forward to have a proper look at Marie.

“She is, Dad,” hissed Rose with hatred. “Marie Moffatt.”

“She’s very pretty,” he continued. “We should invite her for dinner.”

“Ron! She’s the girl who slipped Lily the potion!” chastised Aunt Hermione immediately.

“Dad!” snapped Rose. “You’re insensitive!”

Uncle Ron muttered something that Lily didn’t quite get, but she didn’t care, she was trying to understand if praying that Marie wouldn’t make it to the team would make her a horrible person or not. It probably would.

“Trying for the position of Beater, right?” said Mr Woods.

She nodded.

“Good. You may take off.”

She did, bat over her shoulder and a very determined expression over her face. She flew up and took the place of one of the Beaters, who moved in front of the hoops to play as a Keeper.

The game started and Lily was crestfallen to notice that she played remarkably well. She was fast, had a very strong blow, and her aim was precise. Well, as precise as one could be with a Bludger. She hit two Chasers in the next fifteen minutes, one particularly hard on his arm.

Still, they had rejected so many people that played just as good as she did that Lily kept crossing her fingers that Marie would be rejected, too. Her trial went on for about twenty-five minutes and when she was called down again, Lily was on the edge of her seat.

“You don’t want her to be picked, do you?” asked Rose in a whisper, her voice amused rather than scolding.

She turned to look at her, eyes wide. “What? Of course I want her to be picked, of course. I’m not… I’m not that horrible…”

“Don’t worry. I don’t want her to be picked either,” confessed Rose. “I don’t like her at all, not after what she’s done to you.”

“Miss Moffatt,” said Oliver Wood. “You showed a lot of strength and precision with your blows.” He paused for a moment and Lily hoped that there was a “but” coming. “You’ve been investigated recently though, haven’t you? By the Head Auror himself. Apparently, you drugged a young woman and broke the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.”

Lily’s eyes opened wide as she heard those words. Was she going to be the reason why Marie wasn’t going to get picked? Merlin! Revenge was so sweet!

Marie nodded, her face finally worried. Lily couldn’t help feeling a smile tugging at her lips.

“We do expect all our players to behave correctly, in and out of the pitch. Am I understood?” thundered Mr Wood. “And we don’t condone any misconduct. Is that clear?”

Marie nodded again, eyes wide as a child.

“Good,” said Mr Wood. “Welcome to the team, then, Miss Moffatt.”

Lily let out a soft groan that didn’t go unnoticed. James patted her shoulder, Rose gave her a one-armed-hug that should have comforted her, her father sighed dramatically. She was glad to notice that nobody in her family seemed too happy about the results of Marie’s trials.

She looked at the brunette in the pitch, though. She was waving to someone up in the terraces, probably her family and, when she turned towards her fellow players, Lily felt her anger raise as the girl hurried to jump at Hugo’s neck. Maggie and Julia hugged her from behind and they all seemed to scream excitedly and bounce on the balls of their feet.

Even Hugo looked happy for the outcome of Marie’s trial, and that made Lily fume.

“He’s just a really, really, _really_ nice person,” whispered Rose, as if she could read Lily’s mind. “He doesn’t like her at all after what she has done to you, don’t worry, okay?”

Lily sighed audibly. “Am I really that easy to read?”

“No, but I’m your cousin; I know you like the back of my hand.” She planted a kiss on the side of her head and Lily smiled sadly.

“She’s going to play with him for years,” she sighed. “He’s going to see her every day.” She widened her eyes. “And maybe I’ll have to interview her, when I’m made Quidditch correspondent! Oh man!”

“Then you can definitely trash her in your article,” giggled Rose. She patted Lily’s shoulder and squeezed her fiercely to her side while someone else was called into the pitch for their trial.

***

One other person made it to the team; then, thirteen more people were not picked, and Julia and Maggie were amongst them. Maggie left the pitch in tears, while Julia seemed on the verge of being sick. Not very dignified at all, Lily thought, but she did feel sorry for them.

Now there were only three people left, and they were either sitting on the bench, stretching their muscles or doing little runs around the pitch just to keep themselves warm.

All the other players had already left the pitch, the ones who made it and the ones who didn’t make it. The ones who didn’t make it had either already left the stadium, or were now sitting in the terraces with their relatives, some of them looked ghastly from what Lily could see.

The ones who made it had changed and were now conducting interviews with the various newspapers. Lily imagined her mother having to interview Marie. She hoped her questions were embarrassing and that she brought up the subject of that night at the beach.

“Cecil Thorne,” was called then, and a dark-skinned, dark-haired man made his way towards the centre of the pitch.

Lily didn’t look at him though, she stared at Hugo. He was stretching his arms over his shoulders, moving his head left and right, trying out his swing with his bat. From that distance, he looked focused and slightly worried, and she ached to be there with him, to comfort him, to hug him and to talk to him.

She tried to think intensely about him, hoping he could feel her good luck wishes in his mind or something similar. She wished she knew how to perform Legilimency and that she could slide into his head and talk to him.

She couldn’t, though. All she could do was think about him and hope that everything would go well.

Thorne made it to the team, and he pirouetted into the sky with his broom to show his happiness.

Urquhart, the one who followed him, wasn’t picked.

The light of the day was turning a warm orangey colour when the woman’s voice – now sounding a little tired – called out, “Hugo Weasley,” and Lily’s heart skipped a beat as she took a deep breath and waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, fair warning: Start to prep yourself for next chapter. I am serious. It's gonna be a roller-coaster. x
> 
> PS--Sorry for the cliffy.. ;)


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys--I don't know if you're ready for this. I know you've asked for _this_ for 32 chapters, but I really don't know if you're ready for this. *I* wasn't ready for this when I edited it, last week. 
> 
> I know I am the luckiest author on this archive: I have the most wonderful readers and they leave the best comments ever, but I'm taking the liberty to ask for feedback for this chapter. I need to know what you think about it. I need it. So, please, if you're not sure whether you want to comment or not, or if you're only going to leave one comment for this story this chapter - ehm, and the last one maybe? *g* - is _the_ chapter. This is shameless, I know, but this chapter.. Well, this chapter is THE chapter you were waiting for, guys. 
> 
> Enjoy. x

***

Hugo had his broom in his hand and his bat thrown over his shoulder as he strode towards the centre of the pitch. He seemed to hide his nervousness well behind his confident posture and secure steps, and Lily silently complimented him and hoped the judges were impressed: many of the other players had looked terrified from the moment they had set foot in the pitch that morning.

Hugo came to a stop in front of the judges and even attempted a relaxed smile.

“Mr Weasley,” said Oliver Wood. “You’re here to try out for the position of Beater, am I correct?”

“Yes, I am, Sir,” replied Hugo, his voice throaty but firm.

“I see. Same uncles, same nephew,” he said amusedly. “Good. Let’s get this over with; we all want to go home.”

Hugo nodded; he mounted his broom and pushed his feet on the ground as he finally took off.

“Hey, he talked about me,” said Uncle George cheerfully. “You heard him, right? He just talked about me!”

“Yeah, Dad, shush,” muttered Roxanne, gesturing towards the pitch. “Hugo’s turn, remember?”

“I can’t look,” groaned Rose, turning to hide her face against Scorpius’ shoulder.

“I’m sure he’s going to do great,” said Scorpius, patting her head and staring at Hugo.

“Go, son!” cried Uncle Ron before Aunt Hermione and Lily’s father could shush him.

“They don’t like these things, Ron,” chastised Aunt Hermione. “Have you heard anybody else screaming something?”

“He’s the last one of the day; it’s not like we’re going to disturb anybody else if we show some appreciation,” replied Uncle Ron sourly.

“That’s right, Ron,” said Uncle George. “Go, Hugo!”

“George!” snapped Aunt Angelina.

Uncle Bill chuckled at the two of them and Victoire glared at her father.

“Will you all shut up?” snapped Lily. “He needs to focus! That’s why they don’t want people to scream things, because the players need to focus! If he’s not picked, it’s all your fault!”

They all muttered their excuses, but Lily couldn’t care less about them. She stared at Hugo, eyes wide and worried as he talked to other players and they nodded and changed places.

“Oh God,” muttered Lily as a Bludger was thrown in his direction and his trial started.

He drew back his arm, scrunched his face up in concentration, and hit with all his forces. Lily held her breath as the Bludger came into contact with the bat with a loud thud and then was thrown in the direction of one of the Chasers.

The Puddlemere player dodged it easily, but Hugo was already focusing on the next Bludger that was flying at breakneck speed towards him. Both balls kept flying back to him with such rapidity that for a moment Lily was afraid that they had been charmed to try to hit him, just like it had happened to her father back at Hogwarts. It surely wasn’t like that, though, she was just worrying too much.

In the meantime, the three Chasers were pretending to be playing a match – one of them had switched to Keeper again – and Hugo tried hard to hit them as forcefully and as frequently as he could.

They were well-seasoned players, though, and it was easy for them to dodge the Bludgers and focus on the game at the same time. But Hugo didn’t lose his cool; he looked like a Leprechaun on a sugar high as he threw himself left and right, pirouetted on the broom, and hit Bludger after Bludger.

Lily wasn’t sure she had breathed once since his trial had started; she knew that her heart was going at the same pace as Hugo’s blows, and her eyes were wide and almost hurt her since she was trying to avoid blinking as much as possible.

“He’s so good,” gushed Uncle Ron. “If Wood doesn’t pick him, I’m going to punch him. I am. I’m going down there and punch him in front of everybody.”

“Ron,” sighed Lily’s father. “Don’t worry, he’s going to get picked.”

“Shh! Dad!” chastised Lily immediately. “You’re going to jinx it!”

They all fell silent again, and Lily focused back on Hugo. He was sweating now, his eyes wide and curls plastered to his forehead. He seemed to have eight arms and to use them all to hit the Bludgers to send them in all sorts of directions and with all his forces.

He dove a little to hit one ball that was passing next to his feet, then dodged another one which drew a circle in the air and went back towards his back at full speed.

Lily let out a small gasp and brought both hands in front of her mouth, but Hugo must have heard the swishing of the Bludger as it made its way towards him, because he ducked and hit it with his bat to send it towards the Keeper.

Lily could actually hear the crowd let out the breath they were holding every time he dodged something or hit a ball.

“He’s good,” she muttered to herself. “He’s so damn good. Breathe, Lily. He’s fantastic.”

He dove to hit a Bludger that was zooming close to the ground, but the moment he swung his bat, the second Bludger was already flying dangerously towards him.

Aunt Hermione gasped, Lily’s fingers dug into the bench where she was seated, and she could feel Uncle Ron tense next to her.

The Bludger seemed to wobble a little, as if it was arriving with even more speed than usual, before hitting Hugo square in the shoulder. He doubled over, cringing in pain as he brought his hand to his left arm.

“Oh God!” gasped Lily, eyes filling with tears and hands cupped in front of her mouth at the scene. “No, no, no. Oh God!”

The others players didn’t seem concerned in the least that he was surely hurt and they kept throwing him Bludger after Bludger, and Hugo just had to keep switching between hitting balls and holding his arm.

“He’s in pain,” said Lily agitatedly. “Can’t they see that he’s in pain?”

Luckily, they did seem to see it, because suddenly Hugo was called down and the trial brought to an abrupt end by Oliver Wood.

“Oh no,” groaned Rose. “Right now that he had been hit.”

“It’s okay,” breathed Lily, swallowing. “McLaggen was hit, too…” But she was shaking and her heart was in her throat, preventing any sort of air to reach her lungs.

“Mr Weasley,” said Mr Wood slowly. “Does your shoulder hurt?”

Lily chewed nervously on her bottom lip. Why would he ask him? Oh Merlin! He hadn’t asked anybody else! Was he going to tell him that that was what he got for not being fast or strong or focused enough?

Hugo shook his head. “Only a bit,” he said as firmly as he could.

Probably, Oliver Wood nodded, but Lily couldn’t see it from up there. “Your blows are quite powerful, Mr Weasley,” he said, “and precise. We really appreciate your strength and purpose when you play.”

Why did it always feel like there was a “but” coming when they paused like that?

“Go and see a Healer for that shoulder,” said Mr Wood, “and welcome to the team.”

It was as if a bomb had been dropped in the stadium. The whole Weasley-Potter clan jumped up, screaming and clapping their hands, laughing and doing little celebratory dances while they drowned out the voice of the woman as she announced that the trials were now over and that the people on the terraces could make their way towards the exits.

Lily was still seated, though. She was petrified while the air finally reached her lungs, her hands were shaking and her eyesight was so blurred she couldn’t see past her nose.

“He got in!” screamed someone, patting her shoulder.

“He was picked!” said Fred. “Lily, did you hear what they said?” He grabbed her arm, and made her turn to look at her shocked face. “Oh man!” he laughed, and pulled her to her feet, hugging her and jumping a little. “He got in! He got in! Our cousin is a Quidditch star!”

Finally, Lily understood that she was required to celebrate with the others, and that her shock surely wasn’t flattering for Hugo. She had to snap out of it and show how happy she was.

“He got in!” she babbled, finally hugging Fred back and joining her family in the noisiest and messiest display of happiness that had been witnessed that day at the Puddlemere Stadium in River Piddle.

Albus and Louis sent sparkles in the air, Uncle George and Uncle Ron lit up a firework – which was decidedly illegal in the pitch – and, when it exploded, it showed Hugo rejoicing on his broom and the writing “Congratulations, Hugo!” in Puddlemere blue.

Aunt Hermione and Grandma Molly were crying, Victoire was doing a little celebratory dance with Remus on her hip, Roxanne was screaming and waving down at the pitch, even though Hugo had already left, probably to go and see a Healer, take a shower, and finally get his interview done.

“He’s so good,” said Rose, her eyes teary. “I’m so proud of him!”

“He’s a Quidditch star!” cried Lily’s father, laughing in happiness.

They went on celebrating for long minutes, until the woman spoke again from down the pitch, this time directing the notice specifically to them. “Mr Weasley’s family is gently asked to follow the directions to the closest exits,” she said firmly.

But it took them a good five more minutes before they had collected all their things and started to make their way towards the nearest exit. Or, in Lily’s case, towards the nearest flight of stairs that would bring her to the changing rooms.

She took advantage of the confusion to take out her father’s Invisibility Cloak. Before she could wear it, though, Albus had grabbed her wrist and pulled her back towards him.

“What are you doing?” he asked in his Auror voice that let her know that he knew that she was about to do something that was probably illegal.

She grinned innocently at him. “I’m going to congratulate Hugo before he’s off to be interviewed by Mum,” she whispered. “I promised him I’d go to see him. Please, don’t tell on me, Al.”

He shook his head but smiled fondly at her and let her wrist go. Her grin became even wider as she slid under the cloak, disappearing from before his eyes while Albus told her to congratulate Hugo from his part.

“Will do,” she whispered as she turned away from her family, hastily making her way towards the stairs on the other side of the terraces.

She felt like she was flying through the rows of seats and then down the stairs and through the corridors, and more than once she was literally flying as she tripped over the cloak.

She had her heart in her throat once again, though, and she didn’t care if she ended up on the floor. If she fell down, she would Heal herself, and if she twisted an ankle, Hugo would carry her home like a knight in shining armour that evening. She just had to be in the changing rooms before he left for the interview with her mother. She had to congratulate him; she definitely couldn’t wait until later that night or the following day at the party. It had to be now.

She had no clue where the changing rooms were, but she would check every door if it was necessary. After all, she had the cloak; it was not as if someone could see her and stop her. She just hoped that there were no warding spells on the doors, but if that had been the case, Hugo would have told her.

She found three toilets and an office before stumbling through the door of what looked like a closet.

She let out a frustrated groan but wasn’t discouraged, she was only starting to worry a little that she would not be able to get there in time. She wondered if her mother was already pounding on the door of the changing room and Hugo had to hurry out to meet her and he was now thinking that Lily had forgotten about him.

She pushed another door open and peered inside. Cupboards, benches, a pungent smell of sweat and deep voices commenting how promising the novices looked. It was a changing room all right, but that was the one of the main team. And it wasn’t the one that Hugo was using that day, very probably.

But if that was there, it meant that she was getting closer. She walked eagerly to the following door and pushed it open as silently and as quickly as she could.

And stopped in her tracks.

Hugo was there, sitting on a bench, his head in his hands, and a short, white towel wrapped around his hips. His curls were dripping water on the floor, and he looked as if he was still trying to catch his breath and wrap his head around what had just happened to him.  

Lily accompanied the door until it closed with the softest of clicks, then made her way as silently as she could towards him, clutching the cloak tightly around herself. She stopped only when she was standing mere inches from him. She took a deep breath and stared at his wide eyes, fixed on the floor. She couldn’t help smiling at him and lowered her head a little, until she could whisper in his ear, “You are the best.”

And then, Hugo moved so quickly that for a moment Lily didn’t even understand what was happening. One moment she was standing next to him, the following she had her back pressed against one of the cupboards and Hugo’s hands were searching blindly for the hem of her cloak.

When he found it, he grabbed it as if life depended on it and pushed it back over her shoulders, discovering her face and a cascade of red hair. She looked up at him with eyes wide and unable to talk. Without knowing what else to do, she bit her bottom lip and grabbed his wrists near her shoulders.

And then, his lips were on hers: hungry, searching, _scorching_.

He kissed her as if he needed it in order to survive. He kissed as if he had wanted to do so for all his life. He kissed her like she had never been kissed before. His lips were soft and his nose poked into her cheek; his tongue swiped inside her mouth as if he was trying to taste every single inch of her.

The butterflies took off in her stomach, and her knees felt weak all of a sudden.

His hands wound up in her hair and he cupped her neck as he pressed himself forcefully against her. She felt little drops of water falling from his hair to her forehead.

She let out a soft humming sound as he sucked on her bottom lip, and only then he seemed to snap out of it and understand what he was doing.

He tilted his head back, letting her lips go, and then pressed his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. “Oh God,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Lily. I don’t know what got into me. I know you don’t want to kiss me, I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t—”

She cut off his ranting with her lips on his this time. She pressed herself against his naked chest, sliding her hands up his arms, until she was clutching his shoulders. Her kiss was just as ravenous as his own had been; he tasted of mint and she just couldn’t get enough of him.

They kept kissing for long minutes, until they had to come up for air. They both gasped and tried to gulp down as much oxygen as they could before starting to snog each other hungrily once more.

“I love you,” muttered Hugo, amongst kisses. “I do. God, I love you so much and you don’t even know it, Lily.”

She felt like she was flying. Had he just said what she thought he had said? “I love you, too,” she whispered back, her voice cracking with emotion.

“Oh fuck,” he said before pressing his lips against hers once more. “I want you so much, Lily. I just… I just want you.”

“I want you, too,” she replied desperately.

“God,” he muttered, his hands slipped from her hair and he unfastened her cloak none-too-nicely, letting it pool at her feet. He slid his hands down her sides and grabbed her under her thighs, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up. He stepped back until he was sitting on the bench once more and she was straddling his lap. And she was still kissing him.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered almost reverentially as she kept pecking his lips gently. “And I’m so freaking crazy about you.”

She smiled against his lips and then deepened the kiss, until he tilted his head back to bring it to a sudden ending.

“I hate Derek,” he confessed suddenly. “Not him-him—he’s alright—but the fact that you chose him over me. That you’d go out with him and not with me.”

“I’ve never chosen him over you,” she confessed quietly. “Never. I’ve been playing mercilessly with his heart in all these months.” She kissed him again. “Every time I was with him, I’ve always thought about you. Just you… always…”

“Really?” he said, excitement in his voice.

She nodded as she kissed his cheeks and slowly descended on his neck. “I’ll break up with him,” she said. “I want to be with you.”

“God, I want that, too, Lily.” He hugged her until she almost couldn’t breathe. “I want you,” he said, pushing his pelvis up against her. “I need you. Now. I’m so hard, Lily. I’ve thought about you all day. I’ve thought about this moment all summer.”

“I want you too, I—”

Her sentence was cut off by a loud knock on the door. “Mr Weasley? The press is waiting for you in the press room,” said a woman’s voice.

“Shit,” he muttered before raising his voice. “Five minutes.”

“I’ll let them know,” said the woman, walking away.

Lily smiled and tilted her head back to look up at him. “Your moment of glory, Mr Star Quidditch Player.”

He groaned. “I’m going to be late tonight,” he sighed. “And will have to leave early tomorrow morning.”

“Come to sleep with me when you’re back,” she whispered, kissing him once more. “Wake me up. I promise you won’t regret it.”

He groaned as she pressed down against his erection. “Temptress,” he murmured. “I can’t wait for the party tomorrow. I want to dance only with you.”

She smiled at him and was about to kiss him again, when her stomach grumbled in a very unsexy way. She blushed, her cheeks suddenly on fire. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Are you hungry? Have you had lunch?” The concern in her voice made her heart swell.

She shook her head. “My stomach was in knots for you.”

“Oh Lily,” he whispered, kissing her again. “Promise me you’ll go home and get something to eat.”

“I promise. Hey!” She pushed back from him and stood up, unrolling her banner from her bag, she spread it out in front of him. “I made this for you.”

He stepped back, trying to decipher the gigantic words, and Lily drew out her wand to make it float in front of him.

“You are… the best… player in the freaking world. Go, Hugo,” he read, a grin spreading his lips. “Thank you. I love you.”

She smiled softly as the butterflies cause mayhem in her stomach at his admission. “Say that again,” she whispered.

“I love you,” he said, walking to her. “I love you, I love you, I love—”

“Mr Weasley!” Another knock on the door, the voice slightly higher.

“You should go,” said Lily, smiling sadly. She didn’t want him to go anywhere at all. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her again.

“Mr Weasley!”

“Coming!” he called back. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Wake me up,” she reminded him. “I can’t wait.”

He smiled, kissed her again, and looked as she threw the cloak over herself once more and disappeared from his sight.

“I love you,” he repeated once more.

“Love you, too,” she said, standing on tiptoes to invisibly kiss him.

***

She felt like she was walking two feet off the ground when she got home. She scooped up Rufus in her arms and made him twirl around, ignoring his vocal protests. Then she hugged him forcefully to her chest.

“I’m so happy, I think I could fly,” she confessed, her voice so giggly, she was happy she was there alone. “I can’t even eat,” she admitted. “I just want to go to bed, fall asleep, and wake up when Hugo comes home.”

She fed Rufus and kept grinning like a lunatic before finally going to bed. She tried to stay awake and wait for Hugo, but she was much more tired than she could ever imagine and she fell asleep much faster than she thought she would.

***

Contrary to what Lily thought, she wasn’t woken by Hugo’s soft lips against her own in the middle of the night, but by the unforgiving rays of sun against her eyes and a ball of fur that was gingerly kneading her empty stomach.

“Rufus!” she complained half-heartedly, pushing him away. She stretched her arms over her head and when she brought them down again, something crinkled under her fingers on the pillow next to hers.

She rubbed her eyes forcefully and sat up before picking up the piece of parchment. She couldn’t believe that Hugo hadn’t woken her up! She had looked forward to doing to him all sort of indecent things that night.

She blinked and stopped. Oh God, because the day before had happened, right? It wasn’t just a dream, was it? Hugo had been picked by the Puddlemere United, Hugo had confessed his love to her, they had kissed like there was no tomorrow in the changing rooms of the stadium. Right?

She swallowed and unfolded the parchment, suddenly feeling rather scared of what might have been written there.

She had to rub her eyes even more intensely to put the words into focus.

> _My love,_
> 
> _Don’t think that I didn’t wake you up for lack of trying. You were knackered, weren’t you? And you didn’t even have dinner when you came home, am I right? You can’t see it, but I’m scowling you. Tomorrow night, we’re going to have dinner in bed. Naked._
> 
> _I’m off to the photoshoot and more boring interviews – don’t tell your mother I said that. I can’t wait to tell you everything about last night. I can’t wait for tonight. I can’t wait for the party. I can’t wait for after the party._
> 
> _Being away from you is going to be a torture today._
> 
> _I love you to bits – H xx_

Lily let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. The day before had definitely happened. And oh! He had tried to wake her up and she had kept sleeping? How embarrassing! She shook her head slightly. Why was she embarrassed? This was Hugo, they weren’t embarrassed in front of each other!

But…

He called her “My love”, he couldn’t wait for the after party, he promised her naked dinners, he loved her to bits… Lily felt like she could fly. And she definitely felt like she could be embarrassed in front of him. As if he was the same old Hugo and a totally new person at the same time. And it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, just different from usual.

She kissed the letter, pretending that it was Hugo’s lips, and fell back down on the bed. She sighed and smiled dumbly right before her stomach grumbled again and she felt the urge to have some sort of breakfast before she passed out.

***

She was still walking two feet off the ground when she went to the newsroom. She didn’t have any letter to drop off, and her first stop wasn’t even Lavender’s office. She went straight to her mother, didn’t even knock, and grinned at her like the Cheshire Cat grinned at Alice as she walked in there.

“How did it go? How did it go? How did it go?” she asked, hurrying to her mother’s desk. “Was he good? Are you writing his interview right now? Can I read it? What did you ask him?”

Her mother looked up at her, apparently more amused than surprised. “He was very good,” she assured her. “He replied to all sorts of questions in a very professional way.”

Lily plopped on the chair across from her. “Did he? What did you ask him?”

She smiled. “How he felt, what he was thinking about during the trial, what he looks more forward to—”

“And?”

“And many other things that you’ll read about on tomorrow’s issue,” she assured her. “After I’ve interviewed him today.”

“What are you going to ask him today?” she asked.

Her mother sighed; probably she had tons of pieces to write and interviews to prepare still, but Lily couldn’t wait.

“Today, I’m going to get to know our players up close and personal,” she said. “All of them, though, not just Hugo, Lily.”

“What do you mean ‘up close and personal’?” she asked suddenly agitated. “What kind of questions are you going to ask him?”

Her mother looked at her, her brow slightly furrowed at her nervousness. “About his personal life, Lily,” she explained. “What he likes to do in his free time. I’ll ask him about his family, his love life, relationship status.” She grinned at Lily and winked. “Aunt Hermione is going to be happy that I’m investigating—”

“Oh Mum! That’s horrible of you!” she protested heartily. “Don’t invade his privacy!” What would Hugo reply to those questions? Would he mention her at all? Oh God! She hoped that he would and that he wouldn’t at the same time.

Her mother looked at her, surprised. “I’m not invading his privacy,” she said. “He knows what I’m going to ask him, and he can refuse to reply any time.”

Lily pouted. “Okay, and you don’t push him,” she added. “Promise me.”

“I never push anybody to answer questions that they don’t want to reply to, Lily,” she replied rather dryly. “I’m a serious journalist, I’m not Rita Skeeter.”

Lily looked at her for a long moment, then finally nodded. “Okay, I trust you.”

“Thank you,” she said with so much sarcasm that Lily felt compelled to pout again.

“Okay, I’m off to get the letters, see Derek, reply to the letters, go to Derek’s and then… the party at Oliver Wood’s house! I so can’t wait! It’s going to be super awesome, isn’t it, Mum?”

She pursed her lips. “Oh right, Hugo invited you to the party tonight,” she said slowly. “That was very nice of him.”

Lily nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll make sure to thank him properly,” she replied boldly before proceeding to blush. “I’ll… I’ll cook something nice for him, I mean… or I’ll take him out to dinner. Yes, that’s probably better.”

Her mother just quirked an eyebrow, but didn’t comment. Instead, she said, “I’m sure it’s going to be really good.” She raised a finger in front of her face. “You’re not going to drink too much, are you? You definitely don’t want to get wasted in front of people that you’ll probably have to interview one day.”

“Of course, Mum,” she sighed. “I’m not stupid. I’ll just dance with Hugo all night, and introduce myself politely to the other players, and then we’ll go home and…” She sighed, her dumb smile reappearing on her face.

“And?” asked her mother suspiciously.

She looked at her, her smile now embarrassed. “And I’ll cook him dinner…” she hurried to say.

“After the party?”

Lily swallowed and slowly stood up from the chair. “Yeah, after the party, after the party means tomorrow too… tomorrow evening, right? Oh, it’s late, Mum, have tons of letters to reply to… and… and Mr Quills’ son—”

“Derek?”

“Yes, Derek! I have Derek to see… I’ll see you later, Mum… Say hi to Hugo from me, okay? Tell him… tell him I’m thinking about him,” she said, without being able to stop herself. She hurried out of the office before her mother could comment on that and closed the door quickly.

Unsurprisingly, she was still walking two feet off the ground while she made her way towards Derek’s office and confirmed their “date”, and later while she retrieved the letters from the Lavender’s office.

***

The day was slow to pass. Lily was bored and every time she heard a noise – which, most of the time, was Rufus doing something that he shouldn’t be doing – she jumped up, hoping it was Hugo who had come home a bit earlier. It was never him, and she felt always a bit disappointed and snappy with her Kneazle afterwards.

She replied to the letters almost distractedly. Thankfully, there weren’t many in those days since most of the youngest readers had gone back to Hogwarts the day before and probably didn’t have time to follow the column anymore.

She had hoped that the photoshoot and the interviews wouldn’t take him all day, and probably they wouldn’t, but he had been surely whisked away by his parents, his sister, and everybody else, and she couldn’t certainly blame them. She still wished he’d manage to come home before she had to leave to see Derek, but as the evening approached, she lost all hope.

She started to get ready around five. She kept the dress that she had bought in Penzance, and that she would finally wear for Hugo, hidden in her wardrobe, she didn’t want him to see it before she donned it.

She took a shower, washed her hair, donned the dress that Derek had painted her in for the past week or so, styled some pretty curls in her locks, and put on some makeup. Not too much, she wanted to look classy and beautiful. She thought that a smoky eye and red lipstick would do the trick, and they did. A bit of pink on her cheekbones and she looked perfect for a party amongst those who counted in the Quidditch world.

She took a deep breath; she didn’t want to go to Derek’s for the portrait. She would have very much liked to stay home and wait until Hugo was back, surely snog him a little – or a lot – don the real dress and go to the party. But she couldn’t go out with Hugo without first breaking up with Derek. She wasn’t _that_ kind of person. So, now, she was going to go to Derek and tell him that she was in love with someone else. She just hoped that he wouldn’t cry. Those artists were sensitive fellows.

She walked back into the living room, where Rufus was lying on his back on the couch. She petted him quickly and told him she would be back soon, and the kitten just barely looked at her as he licked his paw.

She made her way to the door, then Diagon Alley, and finally the Apparition point. Soon she was in front of Derek’s door and, for a moment, she regretted that she looked all pretty and ready to go out. She hoped that Derek didn’t misunderstand her intentions. Oh, well, she wouldn’t have let him. Not this time.

“Hi,” he said, in his usual gentle tone as he opened the door for her. “Wow, you look stunning.” His eyes skimmed appreciatively over her face and stopped shy of her chest, a true gentleman.

“I’ve to go to the party,” she hurried to say. “After this. Remember?”

His smile didn’t falter. “I do remember,” he said. “Are you excited?” He guided her towards his study, and she sat hastily, hoping that he would just get down to business and finish as soon as possible.

“Very excited,” she replied. “Hugo promised to dance with me all night.”

Derek sat behind the canvas and drew out his brushes and colours with calm and measured movements. “Have you told him congratulations from me?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen him all day,” she replied, her voice tinged with misery. “He had interviews, photoshoots and then he probably went to see his parents and Rose.”

Derek nodded. “And what about Marie? Was she picked?”

Lily sighed dramatically. “Yeah. She was picked, too,” she replied, “but Oliver Wood called her out about her little problem with the Aurors, in front of everybody.”

Derek furrowed his brow. “That’s when she slipped you the potion, isn’t it?”

Lily nodded enthusiastically.

“You must have felt rather joyous when he did,” he chuckled. “I hope she looked embarrassed.”

“I couldn’t tell from up there,” she replied. “I’ll ask Hugo if she did. But I hope that, too.”

Derek grinned and then he finally started to finish the portrait, his movements sure and precise on the canvas.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a while; the only sound was the brushing on the canvas. She was trying to understand when was the best moment to let him know that there wouldn’t be any other dates between the two of them.

“Are you going to wear that dress to the party?” he asked her after a while. “Or have you chosen a different one?”

“I… I bought one specifically for the party when I was in Penzance,” she confessed. “Hugo’s mother approved of it, even though it might have been because Uncle Ron had pestered me all weekend with his antics about my bikinis.”

“Hmm,” said Derek, a small impish smile stretching his lips. “Will I be able to see it too, one day?”

She swallowed, lowering her eyes and trying to find something to say that wouldn’t lead to other unwanted questions from his part. “Probably,” she replied softly. “Listen, can I watch when you do the spell? I’m really quite curious to see my little painted self come to life.” She smiled. “Do you think she’s going to be as annoying as I am?”

“No,” he replied seriously. “She’s going to be as intelligent and as beautiful as you are.”

She proceeded to blush; she knew she did because her cheeks were on fire. “I’m really not, Derek,” she mumbled.

“Yes, you are, and you know that you cannot stop me from saying it, right?”

“Right,” she replied. “You’re too kind, as always…”

“I’m just stating the truth, as always.”

Oh God, of course he had to make it super difficult for her to break his heart, as if that task alone wasn’t difficult enough. Was it bad that she hated him right at that moment in time?

No, she didn’t hate him. She hated herself. Why had she gone that far in their relationship? Why had she led him on like that? Why was she so heartless?

Oh, she knew why… She had tried with all her forces to make herself like Derek, to distract herself from her feelings for Hugo, to focus her attention on someone who was not her cousin. Why? Because that was not something that should happen, she shouldn’t have fallen in love with her own cousin; she had been sure that he would have never reciprocated her feelings for him either.

And instead, he did. He loved her and she loved him. And, while they confessed their feelings to each other, not once the fact that they were related had even popped into her head. It was natural, her love for him was natural, and it made her so happy that she could walk amongst clouds and touch the sky with her outstretched fingers.

Of course, there was still the little problem of what to do with their relationship. Did they want everybody to know? Would Grandma Molly have a heart attack? Should they keep it secret? For how long? Right now, Lily couldn’t see anybody else in her future. Oh yes, it was silly, but she could see the two of them getting old together. And she wanted that. But that wasn’t feasible with a secret relationship. Unless they pretended they were both single for the rest of their lives. That or they moved to another continent. Australia sounded nice, and Quidditch was big there too, she was sure that—

“Are you thinking about the party?” asked Derek suddenly. “You were smiling.”

She blinked, started out of her musings and looked at him. “Yes,” she replied softly. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” he asked gently. “I’m sure I would think about it, too. Have you ever met Oliver Wood?”

She shook her head. “He sounded quite strict yesterday, though,” she admitted. “Very focused on the game, with very high expectations from the people around him… I wonder what kind of host he’s going to be.”

“I only know that his parties are the most loved and exclusive social events of the year,” he said. “When the interviews to those who have participated come out the following weekend, everybody seems to have had fun, and they always praise the food and drinks, the music, and the entertainment.”

Lily smiled softly. “I still can’t believe I get to go,” she said. “Thank Merlin Hugo got picked for the team.” She giggled at that and Derek chuckled too.

“You’ll tell me everything afterwards, won’t you?” he asked gently. “Maybe when we go for a picnic with my parents. My mum is going to love—”

“I don’t think it’d be a good idea,” she blurted out, lowering her eyes not to have to look at his face. “I’m sorry.”

There was a moment of silence, then the noise of brushes being placed down and steps nearing her.

“Hey,” he whispered as he crouched in front of her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. You don’t have to tell my mother anything about the party.” He cupped her cheek with one hand and lifted her head to make her look at him.

She shook her head a little and tried to collect her thoughts to give him the most painless reply she could muster. She raised her eyes to look at him and instead took a sharp breath as she saw his lips getting closer to her own.

Oh bloody sodding hell! He was going to kiss her!

She was suddenly petrified, she wanted to raise her hand and place it between their two mouths, she wanted to wriggle free from his palm, she wanted to stand up and get as far from him as that room permitted, but she couldn’t. She just stayed there, holding her breath as he got closer and closer.

His lips were soft and shy, nothing like Hugo’s had been. He seemed reverential and afraid that he might scare her, he was not hungry and passionate and feral like Hugo.

And her butterflies didn’t move, they didn’t even flutter their wings a bit.

She took another sharp breath and jerked her head back, jumping up from the chair and stepping away. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice seriously pained. “I’m sorry, Derek, I can’t.”

He looked at her from where he was still crouched. “No, I—”

“No, no,” she said, raising a hand to quiet him. “No, it’s not you, it’s me.” She bit her bottom lip. “And I’m not just saying it, it’s really me. I… I don’t love you, I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” was all he replied, his face surprised rather than hurt.

“Please, don’t get me wrong. I… I think you’re a fantastic person,” she went on. “You’re kind, passionate about your job, gentle, patient, sweet, handsome… Everybody would be lucky to have you.”

“Except for you,” he murmured, his voice a bit hurt now.

She shook her head. “Me too,” she replied. “It’s just… I… I’m love with someone else. I’m so sorry, I just… I didn’t even know I was in love—no, I knew I was in love, I just tried to… to hide the feelings even from myself and I just ended up making a—”

“Hugo,” said Derek, finally standing up from the floor. “You’re in love with Hugo.”

She gasped softly, bringing both hands to her mouth. “How do you know?” she whispered.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Don’t insult me, Lily,” he said, his voice calm. “Even an idiot would have understood that by now.”

She let out a whine. Oh God! If Derek had noticed too, she wondered if anybody else had noticed at all. Her family? Hugo’s colleagues? “Am I really that obvious?” she asked softly, pacing nervously for the room.

He nodded. “Yes, indeed. You both are,” he replied matter-of-factly. “I kept trying to pretend that you didn’t continuously talk about him, that your eyes weren’t shining when you mentioned his name, that you wouldn’t always think about him.” He smiled sadly. “I tried to convince myself the way you tried to convince me, that he’s your cousin, that you live together, that you’re very good friends and that was why you were always so keen to talk about him.” He sighed. “But we both know we were lying to ourselves, right?”

She nodded softly. “I love him,” she admitted, blushing. “I love him like I’ve never loved anybody else. And I swear to Merlin, I’ve tried not to, but I didn’t succeed.”

“And he loves you back, I hope.”

She tried to keep herself from smiling, but that was yet another thing that she didn’t succeed in doing. “Yes,” she replied, her voice breathy. “We kissed last night for the first time, right after his trials. It was… it was just… I’ve never felt like that. I… I just…”

He raised a hand in front of her. “It’s alright,” he sighed. “You don’t have to rub it in.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, and she really was. “I don’t want to rub it in. I just want you to know that I can’t control it. That I tried to discard those feelings for him, that I tried really hard to fall in love with you—I did, I swear—but I just can’t keep lying to you, and to me, like that. It’s not fair, not for you, not for me, not for—”

“Hugo.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be,” he murmured. “Some things… they are just out of our control.”

Lily looked at him, a soft, sad smile over her face. “You’re so sweet, Derek,” she sighed, “and I’m such an evil hag who just broke your heart. Why, of all people, did I have to do it to you?”

“You didn’t do anything to me,” he said before smiling impishly at her. “In every sense, really.”

She bit her bottom lip, but smiled too. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” he replied. “Yes, my heart might be a bit broken, at the moment, but that’s fine. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last either, and usually when it happens I always whip out some of my best works.”

Lily couldn’t help giggling at it. “We’re still going to be friends, aren’t we? And we can hang out, if you want.” She smiled as an idea popped into her head. “You should oh so totally come to our flat for dinner! I’ll tell Hugo! I’m sure he’s going to be happy to see you!”

“Yeah, maybe in a bit, though, don’t you think?” he replied stiffly.

“You’re right,” she admitted. She went to him and hugged him forcefully. “But promise me you’ll come, I’ve got a lot of single cousins, you know…”

He looked down at her with eyes wide. “Are you trying to set me up?”

“Definitely,” she admitted. “I promise they’re all very beautiful.”

“If they are half as beautiful as you are, I’m in for a treat,” he said, finally hugging her back.

She looked up at him. “Don’t say these things when you come to dinner,” she told him. “Hugo likes you, but he doesn’t like the fact that I’ve gone out with you. And he’s strong…”

“Hey! I’m strong too, you know,” he pointed out. “I’ve got myself some muscles with all the painting that I do.”

She giggled again. “Sorry. You’re right,” she replied. “He’s just like double as tall as you are and has double the muscles, but I promise he’s not going to beat you up, don’t worry.”

“Very reassuring,” he said. “And if he does, you’re going to protect me?”

“Of course,” she replied before stepping back from him. “Your dad is going to hate me, right? And your mum, too…”

“Nah,” he replied. “My dad doesn’t really care about my love life and my mum will always love you more than she loves me. You’re the cutest baby she’s ever seen, remember?” He snorted at that, and Lily couldn’t help bursting into laughter. She was grateful to him for making it all so painless; for her at least, she hoped he wasn’t hurting too much and wasn’t showing it.

“Thank you,” she said, when her laughter faded away, “for being so sweet and understanding.”

“That’s alright. I can’t really say that this conversation came as a complete surprise,” he admitted. “And I promise I’ll wait until you’re gone to start crying,” he added with a little smile that let her know that he was joking. “Hey. I’m done with the portrait, you know. Would you like to see your tiny painted-self come to life now? It’s almost eight thirty, don’t you have to be—”

“It’s almost _what_?” Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re joking.” She spun around to look at the Grandfather Clock in the corner. He wasn’t joking. It was eight twenty-five and she felt her head spin as she stared at the time. “Is that clock right?” she asked frantically. “It can’t be!” Where did time go?

He nodded, looking at her in bewilderment. “It’s right; you said you’d have to leave at eight thirty, didn’t you?”

“No!” she groaned. “I said that I had to be home before eight! I said I should have left at seven thirty! The party starts at eight! I… I can’t believe… Oh God! I have to go! Hugo is going to be furious!”

She crossed the room so fast, she was not even aware of Derek following her. “Use the Floo,” he said when she was right about to get out of the door. “I mean, it’s faster, isn’t it?”

“Oh Merlin. Yes, the Floo!” She walked nervously to the fireplace, grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder, but her hands were so shaky that most of it ended up on the carpet. “Oh, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She tried to look for her wand to clean, but more Powder ended up on the floor instead. “Oh damn it!” she said. She could feel her heart beating almost painfully against her ribcage, as if it was trying to get out of her body and get home before her.

“Don’t worry,” he said reassuringly. “Just go home.”

She pushed the wand back into her pocket and grabbed some more Floo Powder. “I’m so sorry,” she replied. “I didn’t even… I really have to… I’m so sorry!”

“Just go,” he exhorted her. “Say hi to Hugo from me and enjoy yourself, okay?”

She nodded quickly and finally stepped into the fireplace. Her voice was a shaky whisper when she said her address and then threw the Powder and hoped not to end up somewhere she didn’t know.

She didn’t. Luckily, when she stepped out of it, she was standing in her living room.

“Hugo!” she called, completely out of breath. “Hugo!” She hurried towards her room, shedding the dress in the corridor. She knocked on the bathroom and then Hugo’s room, but there was no reply, she opened both doors but the house was deserted. She hurried back into her own room, grabbed the dress from the wardrobe and hastily donned it. She glanced only distractedly at her reflection, but liked what she saw. The dress was short, Merlin, it was definitely well over her knees, and she couldn’t fathom how Aunt Hermione had deemed it appropriate at all. She must have been really tired of going around with Lily that afternoon.

She went back to the living room. “Hugo!” she called again, hoping without hope that he’d be somewhere, anywhere, that she hadn’t noticed before.

The only one who replied to her was Rufus though, meowing and jumping down from the kitchen table to walk to her.

And there she saw it. A rectangular, blue and gold piece of paper that read _Ticket 53 – Miss Lily Luna Potter – Oliver Wood Mansion, Melcombe Bingham – 2 September 2026._

Just one ticket. Her ticket.

 _He had already left_.

“Oh no!” she sobbed. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. “No, no, no.”

She collapsed on the chair. Why had she been so stupid? Hugo had told her that he didn’t want to be late, that the party meant a lot to him, that he wanted to go there with her.

And she had promised, she had told him that she would be on time, that he shouldn’t have worried and now…

“Damn it!” she cried, slamming her fist on the table. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” She stopped when her hand hurt, and finally wiped away her angry tears. She was an idiot, she only had to keep an eye on the time, that was all she had to do. She couldn’t believe she screwed it up.

She looked at the ticket in front of her and wondered how Hugo must have felt at leaving it there. For how long had he waited for her? Maybe he had left right before she had arrived home. No, no, he didn’t want to be late, he had been adamant about it. He surely had left before eight.

She felt the warm tears streaking her face. She had ruined it, completely and utterly ruined it. Hugo would have never forgiven her. Not after all the recommendations he had had for her. Oh God, and she was already dreaming about their perfect night. Him looking brilliant at his first official party as a Puddlemere player, and her being ecstatic as he introduced her to everybody, and they danced together, and maybe sneaked away to snog before coming home and spend the most wonderful night of their lives.

“I ruined everything!” she cried, hiding her face in her arms. “I’m an idiot!”

Something warm and soft rubbed against her forehead, and then a coarse tongue started to lick her gently, as if to make her stop crying.

“I’m an idiot,” she repeated, as she raised her head and grabbed Rufus, hugging him tightly to her chest. “He’s going to hate me.”

She looked at the ticket through blurred eyes. How she wished she was there, at Oliver Wood’s Mansion, right at that moment and—

She gasped softly as something inside her shifted. Hugo had left her the ticket! He wanted her to go there! She had the address, the ticket, she knew the time, and she could go there. She would spend the whole evening apologising and kissing him and telling him how much she loved him and he would forgive her. Yes, it would work. He wasn’t that angry with her, was he?

She jumped up and went to the bathroom. First, she would put her makeup right, re-style her hair, freshen up… She had to look wonderful for Hugo. She just had to.

She would spend the whole evening at his arm, and it would be the most wonderful night of their lives. 

***

Oliver Wood’s Mansion was breath taking. There was no other word for it.

Guests had been asked to Apparate in front of the main gate – the instructions were on the back of the ticket – where servants would control that the people who entered would not be in possession of any suspect potions, would all be able to produce a personal ticket, and would be dressed elegantly.

Lily definitely ticked all the boxes, but not everybody did. There was a young man, one of Hugo’s fellow players who had been picked to play for the team the day before, who was standing in front of the gates and trying to beg his way inside. He wasn’t wearing a suit, though, and the servants were immovable.

Lily took a deep breath as she slipped through the gate and started to walk towards the mansion. She had to follow a wide pebbled path that led to the main door. Some of the pebbles under her feet had been spelled to shine in the dark so that guests wouldn’t trip or get lost, and glow-in-the-dark fairies were roaming the florescent bushes that spotted the immense gardens. In front of her, every single window of the mansion was alight and music could be heard coming from the house.

She imagined how much nicer it would have been to walk down that path with Hugo next to her, maybe stopping to smell the roses or stare at the fairies as they pirouetted through the flowers.

Instead, she was walking swiftly and almost tripping over with her high heels on those pebbles. She should have worn her trainers to go from the gate to the house and then change them right before she got to the door, but they probably wouldn’t have let her in if she had worn trainers.

Oh well! She just hoped that she wasn’t going to sprain her ankle, even though, she couldn’t help imagining her and Hugo play Healer and patient the following day, and a dreamy sigh left her lips at the very thought.

She climbed up the steps that led to the main entrance and the imposing door opened slowly for her. She took a deep breath and the moment she walked inside, she was wrapped in an intriguing mix of scents, voices, and music, while the warmth of the house hugged her pleasantly.

“Can I take your coat, Milady?” asked a neatly dressed man; his white-gloved hands were outstretched in front of him.

Lily looked at him with eyes wide. “Oh, I don’t… I don’t have a coat. Can I leave my bag instead?”

The man smiled and nodded. “Of course, Milady,” he said politely. He took the bag that she was handing him, handling it as carefully as if it was an antique vase, and drew out his wand. A little spiral-shaped symbol appeared on her bag and, at the same time, on her palm. It tingled for a second and then disappeared completely.

“When you have to retrieve your belongings, just stretch your hand towards the wardrobe and it’ll come to you,” he explained before carefully bringing her bag towards a room that looked as big as Lily’s living room and with the sign ‘Wardrobe’ hung on top of the door.

She nodded in understanding and finally turned to look at the double door that stood in front of her and divided her from the ball. It was white with gold details, big and beautiful. Music was coming from behind it and the golden light that she could see underneath it promised many bright lights and candles, while the shadows that passed quickly announced the presence many dancing people.

She swallowed again, feeling nervous and excited at the same time, and took a tentative step towards it. Her legs felt weak, her heart was in her throat, and she was sure that her eyes were shining and her cheeks were glowing.

She kept on walking as if she was in a dream and, when she finally reached the door, it opened slowly and quietly, as not to disturb the party that was going on beyond it.

She held her breath as she stared at the scene before her. People were dancing, laughing, eating, drinking, and talking. Everybody was smiling and seemed elated to have been invited to an event such as that one.

It looked like the sort of grand ball that a king from a fairy tale had decided to throw for the wealthiest people of his land. Everybody was wearing the most beautiful dresses Lily had ever seen, the women looked like they had spent the whole day at the hairdresser, or in some sort of spa to beautify themselves for the occasion. The men were dressed in their best suits or Wizarding robes, and they all looked stunning.

Lily stood there, feeling suddenly very shy. Yes, the place was fabulous, and the party looked fantastic, but without Hugo by her side, she couldn’t have cared much about the ball at all. Therefore, first thing first, she had to find Hugo.

She slowly looked around herself, narrowing her eyes to make out every person at that party. There were famous Quidditch players, some of Hugo’s friends who had made it to the team, and all the people that counted in the Quidditch world. But Hugo was nowhere to be found.

Lily sighed and hunched her shoulders. She reluctantly made her way to the buffet table and grabbed a tall flute of champagne. She had no intention of getting drunk, but she would surely look less lost than she felt with a glass in her hands.

The room was vast and many people were twirling about in the middle; the musical entertainment came directly from the Weird Sisters, who were playing in a corner, behind a crowd of wizards and witches who were enjoying the music and probably taking a pause before another dance.

But yet again, Hugo was nowhere to be found. Could it be that there was more than one room designated for the ball? Could it be that Hugo was enjoying another kind of music in another place?

She sighed and brought the flute to her lips, but almost spluttered it when a careless elbow hit her right in her ribs.

“Oh shit, sorr—Potter!”

She checked her dress first for traces of the champagne before raising her eyes on a dashing-looking McLaggen. “John!” she exclaimed, suddenly comforted to find a known face. Surely McLaggen knew where Hugo was!

“Wow, look at you,” he said, his voice slightly slurred with alcohol. “You look stunning! Blimey! And you don’t look sick at all.”

“Sick?” she asked softly.

“Hugo said you were sick,” he replied, nodding seriously. “Nothing serious, I hope.”

She bit her bottom lip. Hugo had to lie to his friend in order to avoid the embarrassment of being there without a date. Oh God! She had to find him and apologise until her voice was raw.

“I was sick,” she lied. “I was, but now I feel much better, thank you.”

“Yeah, I can see that. You look—Bloody hell, you look gorgeous,” he said appreciatively. “Hey, care to dance?”

She smiled sheepishly and felt herself blush profusely at all those compliments. “I just want to find Hugo first,” she admitted. “Just to let him know that I’m here.”

John looked at her with his eyebrows quirked. “Oh, yeah…” he muttered. “I… I think he was taking a break from the music, I think…”

“Do you know where he is?”

McLaggen seemed to swallow nervously; he grabbed another flute of champagne and downed it quickly. “I’m not sure,” he said before grabbing another one. “Maybe it’s safest if you wait for him with me, right? I mean, we can chat, dance, eat… Have you tried the stuffed mushrooms? They’re out of this world!”

She looked at him, furrowing her brow without understanding. “I’ll try them later,” she said firmly. “I just want to go find Hugo now, please.”

He took a deep breath and shook his head. “Lily, Lily, Lily,” he sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Stay here with me. I’ll introduce you to Mr Wood. Have you already talked to him?”

“No. Later, John,” she protested, pushing on his chest to get free from his arm. “Where’s Hugo?”

He looked at her more desperately than with disappointment. “Oh shit, Lily,” he murmured, still not letting her go.

“What?” she asked, turning around and looking up at him with eyes wide. “What’s wrong?” She closed her fingers around his sleeves, wrinkling his beautiful suit under her hands.

He took a deep breath and nodded towards a door. “He was with Marie,” he finally replied, looking devastated. “They… He was wasted and Marie said that there are bedrooms upstairs that the guests can use… I… I’m so sorry.”

It was as if John had slapped her. As if he had reached out into her chest, had grabbed her heart, pulled it from her ribcage, and thrown it to the floor, and now he was jumping on it with all his forces. It was as if he had punched her in the guts so forcefully that all the air had been knocked out of her lungs.

Lily let his suit go and stepped back, unstable on her legs.

She had been so frantic to get there, to see Hugo, to be with him, and now… Now she wished she had never come. Now she wished she had never let Hugo invite her. “Did she… did she kiss him?” she asked breathlessly.

“I don’t—”

“Did she?” she cried, mindless with pain, making a few guests turn to look at her. She didn’t care if they did.

McLaggen grabbed her arm and dragged her through the same door that he had nodded to a few moments before. It led to a wide hall with an imposing wooden staircase. “Lower your voice or they’ll kick you out,” he whispered frantically.

“Did he kiss her?” she asked, tears now coming to sting her eyes.

“Oh shit,” said John anxiously. “No, no, no. Don’t cry, Lily, please.” He used his thumbs to clumsily dry her tears. “Listen, he was wasted. I told him not to go, but he was completely pissed. Don’t worry; probably he has already fallen asleep in her lap, drooling over her legs. Or maybe he’s thrown up on her shoes, like he did with Julia.”

Lily let out a sob and John seemed to panic before he squeezed her to his chest.

“Don’t, come on, Lily…” he said awkwardly. “Yes, he kissed her, but I’m sure he’s not even going to remember anything when he gets back home tonight. Come on…”

She didn’t listen to him. She didn’t care if Hugo was drunk, or if he wasn’t going to remember it. She didn’t care if he was going to cry and ask for forgiveness. Yes, she had made a mistake, she was late and he had told her too many times that that party was important. Yes, she would have gladly taken all sorts of punishments that he wanted to dish out on her – silent treatment, have to cook for him for a week, be his little slave. But this… this was cruel. She had never expected him to act like that. His vendetta was horrible and made her feel disposable.

He had kept saying that he loved her, but people who loved each other didn’t do these things. He kissed her only the day before, and now he was already upstairs, doing… _having_ … Lily hiccupped a sob. She didn’t want to think about it, but she knew what he was doing with Marie.

And she couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t.

Suddenly her tears changed. Suddenly, she wasn’t crying because she was miserable anymore, she was just angry. No, she was furious. She had let him get under her skin; she had let him enchant her with his words and with his attentions for the whole summer. But it was clear as day that she wasn’t the only one for him and she was glad to have understood that before it was too late.

She raised her head from John’s chest and brushed away the tears with jerky movements. “I’m going home,” she said, and was absolutely horrified to hear her voice crack so much.

“What? Are you sure?” he asked her worriedly. “Do you want me to walk you home? I’ll Apparate with you.”

She looked up at him and, mollified by his concern, she managed to smile. “No, that’s fine,” she said, keeping her voice low to disguise any sort of feeling. “I’m going to be fine.”

“Are you sure? This party is not that exciting, you know. I thought it’d be better,” he lied.

She shook her head, stood on tiptoes, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, John,” she said. “Can you do me a favour?”

“Anything, Lily, anything.”

“Don’t tell Hugo that I came here, please?”

He looked at her for a long moment, then took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay,” he replied. “I won’t even mention it.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. She turned away from him and started to make her way back to the main entrance, but John grabbed her arm before she could disappear through the door.

“Lily?”

She turned to look at him.

“Listen, he said that he loves you, he really did,” he murmured. “I swear.”

She wriggled free of his hand and turned away from him again. “Thank you, John,” she said coolly. “And congratulations for having made it to the team.” And finally she left.

***

She almost didn’t even notice what happened on the way back home. She didn’t remember collecting her bag, going back outside, Apparating in Diagon Alley, and climbing up the stairs to the flat. She didn’t recall any of those things, but somehow she found herself on the sofa, with Rufus lying next to her and asking for little caresses that she didn’t feel like giving.

She wanted to go to bed, lock her door, and never come out again. She wanted to crawl under her covers; she wanted to be with her mother, in her arms, just like the first time that she had had her heart broken. She had cried again, between the Apparition point and her door. And then again, in her flat. And now she could feel her tears all dried out of her skin, and she was glad she had magically waterproofed her makeup before leaving the house.

She shook her head. She didn’t want him to see her like that. She was going to tell him exactly what she thought about him, and then… then she would… she would… She would burst into tears again! She knew that. She should go to bed. Yes, she should and then the following morning they would…

No, she didn’t want to talk to him. Never again. She didn’t want to see him. She didn’t want to hear his voice. She didn’t want to even think about him.

She hated him. She had loved him until a few hours before and now… now she hated him. She felt the urge to slap him, to punch his chest, to kick at his calves. She couldn’t close her eyes for all she could see was Hugo and Marie, naked in some luxury bedroom, rolling around in the sheets. She hated them both.

But she hated Hugo more.

She considered going to bed again. But no. She didn’t want to lie down and forget about that night. She wanted the rage, the hurt, the pain to be well imprinted in her body and mind, she wanted to feel every shard of her heart pressing against her chest and she wanted the pain to last until she took everything out on him.

She heard the Grandfather Clock strike midnight and then one in the morning. She felt her eyes become increasingly heavy, and she was sure they were red for all the crying and the effort of keeping them open. She moved from the sofa – too dangerously comfy – to a kitchen chair, hoping that the harsh wood would keep her awake.

Rufus moved with her and he was fast asleep on the chair next to hers; he looked like a furry pillow. She wondered if touching him would give her some sort of comfort, but she didn’t want any, so she kept her hands balled into fists in her lap. She wondered if she should turn off the candles that were floating around. What would have created a more dramatic effect?

Two in the morning arrived and passed, and still there was no sign of Hugo. Her back was starting to hurt for the way she kept it straight and her lips were numb for the amount of biting she had done on them. She wondered if this was all for nothing. Maybe Hugo wasn’t coming home at all that evening, maybe he was going home with Marie. Maybe he was staying at the party, passed out over her body in a bed. Maybe he was coming home with Marie. Any time now. Lily felt her stomach churn and then relax suddenly. Snapping at both Hugo and Marie would have made her feel so much better. She would scream louder than both of them, and hex them more swiftly since they were probably wasted.

Then, finally, she heard it. Steps behind their door, something that fell to the floor, a whispered curse, and someone fumbling with the keys in the hole. She swallowed thickly and raised her eyes to the door as she stood up from the chair.

It took him way too long to open it, a clear signal that he was drunk. He pushed it open with a bit too much force and finally Hugo’s tall figure stumbled inside, almost losing his balance if it wasn’t for the handle on which he was leaning on.

“Fuck,” he slurred, walking in and closing the door at his back. He didn’t lock it, he raised his head and furrowed his brow, as if to try to understand why the lights were on at that ungodly hour.

Lily didn’t move a muscle, her cold eyes were trained on his face, her severe expression didn’t let any feeling transpire. She just waited for him to notice her, and to her surprise it didn’t take him long.

His eyes seemed to focus slightly as he finally saw her. For a moment, he looked like he didn’t know what he was doing, he didn’t know how to react to her being there. For a moment, he seemed to weaver slightly and she wondered if he was going to lose his balance again and fall down this time.

Then his lips curled in an unpleasant smile, a lopsided little grimace that held so much hatred that for a moment Lily was left gasping for air.

“Did you fuck him?” he said, his voice thick with loathing and alcohol.

She didn’t reply, her hands were fisted next to her sides, her nails were pushing painfully into her palms.

He slowly raised a hand as if to stop her from talking, even when she hadn’t had any intention to open her mouth at all. “Please,” he slurred, his voice unpleasant. “No need to reply.” He nodded at her. “With that dress… Of course you fucked him.” He snorted derisively. “Slag.”

She felt her anger boil even more at the pit of her stomach. She didn’t think she could become angrier than what she had been for the whole evening, but she did. He walked in there and insulted her, like that, after she had waited for him for hours. She had to grit her teeth and focus with all her might to avoid hexing him right there and then.

“Hope you had fun,” he went on, walking unsteadily past her and towards the kitchen cupboards to dig out some food. “Was it worth it? Did you give him your cunt, your mouth, or your arse?”

“Stop talking,” she hissed, not turning to look at him.

“What?” he asked, his voice raising. “Come on, don’t be shy. We’re best-friends, aren’t we?” He said that word with a grimace in his voice, and Lily felt her skin crawl.

“Shut up,” she muttered, her voice broken. She swallowed and tried to sniffle quietly not to let him hear it, but she wasn’t very successful.

“Oh, don’t cry now,” slurred Hugo mockingly. “Hey! Did he give you a facial on your pretty face?” She felt his fingers coming to brush away some locks from her face, but she jerked her head away from his touch.

She turned and looked at him, and the vision must have been formidable for he seemed slightly taken aback. “I didn’t wear this for him,” she hissed. “I wore this for you. I came home to change. Just. For. You.”

His nostrils flared and his face darkened slightly as he looked away. “You were late—”

“I broke up with him,” she hissed. “That’s why I was so late. Some things you can’t just say and then leave.”

He gritted his teeth. “I told you the ball was important.” His voice was cold now, but less slurred than before as if he was trying hard to focus to have a proper fight with her.

“I came to the ball.”

His eyes widened, but he still didn’t raise them.

“Did you fuck her?” she asked venomously. “Did you fuck Marie?”

He was terrified when he looked up at her.

“Please,” she mocked just as he had done. “No need to reply.”

“I… I…”

She didn’t let him find any excuse. She threw herself at him, fists banging his chest. “I hate you!” she snarled. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!”

He didn’t try to shield himself, nor to stop her; he looked down at her with eyes wide and a dazzled expression, as if he couldn’t feel any sort of pain due to the amount of alcohol in his body. Or as if he hadn’t expected her to react that way.

“I hate you!” she screamed in his face, grabbing his elegant jacket and manhandling it.

Finally, he reacted. He closed his hands around her wrists, stopping her from keeping up with her assault, and kept her as still as he could. “I… I didn’t… I…”

She wriggled free of his hands without much effort, though. “Don’t touch me!” she snarled. “Never again! I don’t want to see you anymore! I don’t want to talk to you! I don’t want to— _mnph_!”

She tried to wiggle free of his hands again, but now he was pressing her against the wall at her back; his hands were keeping her wrists pinned there, his lips were against hers, giving her the worst kiss she had ever received.

Sloppy, desperate, _horrible_.

She felt the tears swell up in her eyes again, and when they spilled over the corners and down her cheeks, she was sure he could feel them against his nose, but it was only when she jerked back that he let her go, his head tilting back, and he blinked as if he couldn’t understand why she was crying.

“Don’t touch me!” she snarled again, trying to push him back.

“Lily…” he slurred, his hands closing once more on her arms.

“No!” she cried, slapping them away. “Touch me again and I’ll scream for help! I swear to Merlin I’ll do it!”

He took a step back, looking lost and alarmed. He definitely believed her, even when she didn’t believe herself. “I didn’t… I swear… I…” He stretched a hand towards her, tentatively now, but she slapped him away.

“I hate you,” she reiterated, pushing on his chest to move him away. “I don’t want to see you anymore.” She felt her head light and heavy at the same time, a banging headache behind her eyelids. She was almost blind with fury when she made her way towards the door; she heard him calling her, probably following her onto the landing, but he was still sluggish with alcohol and she was frantic to get as far away as she could from him.

She took a sharp breath and turned around. The last thing she saw was his desperate face as she Apparated away.

And then, just pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll give you permission to call me names for the cliffy. I certainly deserve that. ;) x


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earlier update today, because I don't know if I'm free at midday to post this. Before I let you go on and read it, though, there are a few things that you need to know: 
> 
> 1\. Just in case you haven't noticed yet, I'm OCD. I _need_ to reply to each and every single comment in order to keep the comment count even. I just feel bad and judged if it's an odd number. 
> 
> 2\. You might have been left unsettled by last Thursday's chapter, but I've been overwhelmed by your comments. In fact, it has been a roller-coaster for me, too. Thank you for your insightful considerations and thank you for being always polite, but passionate about your opinions. 
> 
> 3\. Everybody seems to think something different about that last scene and about the characters (especially Hugo). I do have my opinion, naturally, but I reckon everybody should be free to interpret things as they want. That said, naturally, these last two chapters might be a big disappointment for those of you who wanted a resolution over a long period of time. Sorry for that!
> 
> 4\. I love this chapter. I think Lily is hilarious most of the time - and you're probably going to think I'm a monster for saying that, but I can't take over-dramatic reactions. Also, this goes without saying, but remember that we don't know what happens when Lily is not present - just in case you start to hate on some members of the family. 
> 
> 5\. I'll try very hard to keep the posting schedule to its normal time, but I'm editing the last chapter extensively (which means that I'm basically re-writing the hell out of it, adding scenes and stuff), so don't hate me if I'm a tinsy bit late on Tuesday.. The last chapter is always such a hard task for me to write! :-/
> 
> 6\. Thank you, as always, for being on board of this ship with me! I love you all to bits! ❤ xx

***

Lily knew she would probably give her parents a heart attack but, at that moment in time, she didn’t care. Her Splinched shoulder was bleeding furiously, but she could only barely feel the pain. Her heart, on the other hand, was reduced to pieces so small and pointy that she felt as if they were all needles trying to dig their way out of her chest.

It took her minutes to manage to calm down enough to focus on Grimmauld Place, and even longer to find the keys of the front door and unlock it. She grabbed the handle with force and leant against it, catching her breath for a moment before pushing it open. She didn’t even remember if she had closed it at all. She just climbed up the stairs, leaving a trail of blood on the steps as she made her way to her parents’ room.

She didn’t knock. She just pushed the door open and went straight to her mother’s side of the bed.

“Mum,” she sobbed. “Mum.”

They both jumped up, turning on lights and grabbing their wands, but Lily threw herself in her mother’s arms and just started to sob uncontrollably.

She couldn’t reply to any of their worried questions – “What happened?”, “Are you wounded? Oh God, you’re bleeding!”, “Lily! Lily! Are you okay?” – she just repeated, “I hate him. I hate him,” until she didn’t have any more tears in her eyes or air in her lungs.

***

When Lily woke up, she felt as if she had been trampled by a pack of Thestrals. Her head hurt, her shoulder was in pain, her heart was still painfully tore up into little pieces.

She was lying amongst fresh sheets, in her parents’ bedroom at Grimmauld Place. The sun was filtering through the slightly ajar curtains and its unforgiving rays were kissing her face; she groaned and turned away from them. She didn’t know what time it was, but she didn’t think it would have made any difference for her, had she known. She was going to stay in that bed for the upcoming fifty years; nothing would have changed her mind about that. Squeezed between her parents, it sounded like a good way to live. She wouldn’t want to see anybody, especially not any boy, especially not Hugo, for the rest of her life. She would fall asleep in her mother’s arms, and would find comfort in her father telling her that no man would ever be good enough her, the only man she needed was her daddy. She would believe it and she would live happily ever after. Just like that.

She hugged the pillow to her chest and suddenly, without any apparent reason, memories of the night before – of Hugo, of the moment McLaggen told her that he was with Marie – flooded her head, slapping her hard and digging sharp fingers in her chest to crush her heart in even tinier shards.

She sunk her head into the pillow and wet it with her tears until she fell asleep again.

***

There was a light knock on the door, then somebody pushed it open and steps approached the bed. She recognised her mother from her movements, softer and more graceful than her father’s, and she opened her eyes to look at her as she placed a tray on the bedside table and sat on the bed next to her.

“Hey,” she smiled as she noticed that Lily was looking at her. “How do you feel, Lils?”

She opened her mouth to reply that now that she was there, she was feeling a gazillion times better, but in reality it probably wasn’t like that at all, because all she could do was sobbing and throwing her arms around her mother’s waist, hugging her forcefully and pushing her face against her belly.

“Oh, hey, hey,” she said soothingly. “It’s all right. It’s all right, Lily. Mummy’s here. Don’t worry.” She caressed her hair and her shoulder as tenderly as she always did. “You want to tell me what happened?”

Lily was sure that her mother didn’t expect her to reply to the question, not that soon at least. But what was the point in keeping from her mother what Hugo had done to her? She wanted her mother to know everything, really, and she wanted Mummy to tell her that she was right, that Hugo was a horrible person, that they would cut him off the family, that she would do anything in her power to ask Oliver Wood to fire him.

“Hugo…” she sobbed. “Hugo… Hugo had sex with another girl.”

Her mother’s hand didn’t stop caressing her hair, but her movements were suddenly stiffer. “Another?” she asked thickly. “What do you mean _another_?”

Lily sniffled loudly, then she took a deep hiccupping breath before throwing herself in a detailed recount of what had happened that summer between her and Hugo.

***

Her mother was still caressing her hair and Lily was still crying. She had reached the end of her story: the moment where she and Hugo had that horrible confrontation, and memories were strong and painful again.

Her mother had only hummed and nodded throughout the story, stiffening a little when Lily told her the way Hugo had actually helped her with the letters. But Lily wanted to tell her everything and her mother had definitely taken it much better than Lily had expected.

“That’s all,” she sobbed. “Everything… everything that happened.”

Her mother hummed again, softly, as if she was focused on trying to make sense of her daughter’s words, or as if she wanted to find something to say that was suitable for that moment.

Lily knew what that would be, so she held her breath and waited for her mother to swear vengeance on the young man who had made her suffer.

Instead, something else completely came out of her mouth. “You really love him, don’t you, darling?” she finally said, a soft smile in her voice.

Lily’s head jerked up and she looked at her angrily. That was definitely something _unsuitable_ for that moment. “No, Mum! Did you listen to a word I said? I hate him!”

Her mother looked at her with a contrite expression. “Oh, Lily…”

“He’s horrible!” she sniffled, brushing away the tears. “I hate him. I hate him so much I just… I just…” She looked at her mother, hopefully. “Can you tear him down in your article? Please, Mummy, please?”

“Lily,” she murmured, stretching a hand to brush Lily’s hair off her face.

“Please! I’m your little darling, aren’t I?” she asked, her voice childish and petulant.

Her mother sighed gravely before starting to caress her hair again. “Listen,” she said gently. “When you turned up last night, covered in blood, half-Splinched, in tears, upset… You scared us to death.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I didn’t mean to.”

Her mother nodded. “I know,” she said gently. “So, we called Dominique and she Healed you, and once you were alright Dad went to talk to Hugo, because we knew that you—”

“What?” she gasped, outraged at her parents’ treason. “He went to talk to him? To _him_? I hope he arrested him!”

Her mother smiled apologetically. “Lily, Dad said he was really upset,” she went on. “He admitted that it was all his fault, that he was worried about you, and when Dad told him that you were here, he thanked Merlin three times and started crying.”

“He’s just a liar!” snapped Lily angrily. “He doesn’t give a rat’s arse about me. He just didn’t want to go to Azkaban.” She looked up at her mother, eyes wide. “Because Dad is going to send him to Azkaban, isn’t he? With Marie?”

“Lily,” she sighed her name again. “Hugo said that he loves you and came here with Dad after—”

Lily’s hands flew to her mouth. “He’s not still here, is he? I don’t want to see him! Send him away!”

Her mother cocked her head. “He’s not here,” she reassured her. “You were sleeping; he said he’ll come back this afternoon to—”

“I don’t want it!” she cut her off. “Don’t… don’t let him come here! I don’t want him in the house!”

“Lily…”

“No! I don’t want to see him!”

Her mother sighed and nodded. “Okay,” she replied patiently. “How about you rest for a while, and maybe in a couple of days—”

“Never,” she replied firmly. “I don’t want to see him.”

Her mother looked at her sadly, and Lily felt the desire to snap at her and tell her to leave her alone. She couldn’t believe she would defend Hugo, not after all the things Lily had told her. She suffocated the desire of retorting something to her mother, though, and just lay down once more. “I’m tired,” she complained. “Can you let me sleep?”

“Don’t you want to eat something first?” she asked her gently. “I brought you some sandwiches and pumpkin juice.”

She felt her stomach grumble, but didn’t give in. She didn’t feel like eating. “Later,” she replied, closing her eyes.

“Okay, Lily,” said her mother. “I’ll leave them here.”

She nodded jerkily, but when her mother kissed her forehead, she felt a bit better and a bit guilty for having been that brusque with her.

***

At some point of the afternoon, she didn’t know the time exactly, she dragged herself to the toilet. When she came back she stopped on the landing to listen for voices, but she couldn’t hear anything at all. Finally, she had her late lunch and felt slightly better.

She was resting with her back against a mountain of pillows, staring at the wall in front of her with the most abashed expression she could probably muster, when her father came in to see her. “Oh, my darling,” he said, a melancholic smile over his lips. “You don’t look too good.”

She darkened slightly. “Thank you, Dad,” she muttered.

His smile broadened, as if he was sure that he would be able to make her feel better in a matter of seconds. “I brought you,” he said, drawing out his wand and flicking it, “some ice-cream. Chocolate and vanilla, your favourite, right pumpkin?”

He tried to show her the bowl filled with ice-cream to the brim, but she wrinkled her nose at it. “I’m not hungry,” she replied stubbornly.

Her father seemed rather surprised, as if he hadn’t expected her to refuse ice-cream without even looking at it. “Oh, alright, Lily,” he said, flicking his wand again and making it disappear. “I… I was wondering if you needed something from the flat? Should I ask Hugo to bring some of your stuff here when he comes over this—”

“He’s not coming here, is he?” she asked in a hiss. “I don’t want him to set foot in this house for as long as I’m here.”

Her father looked a bit uncomfortable. “I… hum… yeah, okay…” Then he smiled again. “Listen, I talked to Hugo last night, and he said really sweet things about you. I think… maybe… you know…”

“No, I don’t know and I don’t want to know,” she snapped. “I don’t want to see him anymore in all my life. He can fall off his broom for all I care.”

“Lily, that’s not very nice,” chastised her father half-heartedly.

She darkened even more. “He had sex with another girl, Dad,” she snapped, taking for granted that he must have known the whole story. Surely, her mother had spilled the beans about Lily’s confession. She could live with the embarrassment of having her father knowing all about her summer if that would make him go all Head Auror on Hugo. “He had sex with another girl right after he told me that he loved me. Was _that_ nice?”

“Lily, he said—”

“I don’t care what he said!” she snapped. “I don’t, okay? Just leave me alone, I’m tired and I need to sleep.”

Her father nodded disconsolately. “Mum wants to know what you want for dinner,” he said.

“Nothing, I’m not hungry.”

“I… I’ll tell her…”

“Dad?” she asked, her voice childish once again. “You’re going to tell me a story, tonight, aren’t you?”

He furrowed his brow a little. “You’re sleeping here tonight, too?” he asked softly. “I mean, in my bed?”

“Of course,” she complained. “Where else should I go?”

“Mum made your bed, in your old room…” he said almost casually.

She darkened. “Well, if you don’t want me here…”

“No, no, of course we want you here, but I’m sure you’d be more comfortable in your room, Lily, wouldn’t you?” he asked as gently as he could.

She darkened even more. “We’ll see,” she muttered.

He sighed in reply. “Okay, Lily. Rest, my dear…”

***

She didn’t go down for dinner, but she moved back to her old room after her mother had cuddled her for a while. She had to agree that her bed was more comfortable than being squished between her parents.

She didn’t ask if Hugo had come to try to see her again, but a part of her hoped that he hadn’t, while a part of her hoped that he had. It made her feel important that he would try to get to see her, that he would try to ask for forgiveness. And it made her feel happy that he would go back to the flat knowing that her parents hadn’t even let him in. His pain made her happy.

She slept relatively well, only waking up a couple of times to cry and hug the pillow to her chest in despair. But by morning, her headache had disappeared and she felt a bit stronger than the day before.

She moved from the bed to the small drawing room that she used to share with her brothers growing up, curled up on the sofa under a blanket, in just an old, battered t-shirt and her underwear. She graciously accepted breakfast from her mother and spent part of the morning complaining about love and life to nobody in particular and looking out of the window. She had her mother retrieving the letters for her at the Prophet and, for the rest of the morning, she moved slowly through them, replying bluntly and huffily to whoever had dared to present their stupid problems to her that day.

To a young man who asked what kind of flowers he should get for his first date with the girl of his dreams, she replied that it didn’t matter, because surely he was going to cheat on her with that skunk of his co-worker as soon as she was late to a party. To someone who wanted to know what was the best way to have her crush noticing her, she replied that the best thing to do was retire to live in a cave, because it was better not to have men noticing girls at all, since all men were horrible human beings that should be exterminated. To someone who wanted to know if losing her virginity would be painful, she replied that it would be more painful when the man she loved slept with someone else.

She refused lunch and handed the letters back to her mother, who seemed happy that she had worked a bit. Lily stared at her skimming through her replies, though, and looking horrified, but she refused to change them no matter how much her mother insisted. She was doing a service to humanity.

She slept a bit more in the afternoon, until she became aware of a weight on the sofa next to her. She cracked one eye open, and was surprised to see James sitting there, while Albus was perched on the armrest at her feet.

“Hi,” she said darkly, rubbing her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Checking on our little sister,” replied Albus seriously. “You okay?”

“Marvellous,” she replied coolly. “Can’t you see?”

“You look like you could be better.”

“Yeah, Lils. You look terrible.”

“Thank you, guys,” she muttered darkly. Her brothers had always been very delicate. 

James shook his head forcefully, gritting his teeth until Lily could hear the noise they made. “Fuck it,” he hissed. “Knowing what that wanker did to you makes me want to go and hex his face so hard that Quidditch slag won’t even recognise him.”

Lily blinked as her brother’s harsh words sunk into her brain. Had he just called Hugo a _wanker_? And Marie a _Quidditch slag_?

“James, calm down…” sighed Al.

But she was glad to see that James ignored his little brother’s suggestion. “Just tell me when, Lily, and I’m going to go and beat the shit out of him again, okay?” he continued, brushing the hair out of her face. His gentle gesture at odds with his threats. “He didn’t touch you, did he? He didn’t… He didn’t make you do something that you didn’t want to, did he?”

She looked up at her older brother, his face was dark and serious, and he was looking back at her intensely as if he was ready to spring to his feet and rush to the flat to kick Hugo’s arse the moment she told him to.

At that moment in time, Lily loved him more than anybody else in her family.

She shook her head, sending the thoughts of Hugo kissing her at the back of her mind. “Thank you, James, but it’s fine, I guess…” she murmured.

She didn’t want him to go and do something stupid. Yes, she was worried about her brother doing something that he would regret. She was not worried about Hugo. She was not worried about him.

Then something popped in her mind, she opened her eyes wide and looked at him again as she propped herself up on her elbows. “ _Again_?” she asked. “What do you mean _again_?”

James blushed slightly and grunted something, but Lily had already understood everything that there was to understand. “You beat him!” she exclaimed. “The night of the baby shower! When you went out all together! You beat him!”

James lowered his eyes and nodded jerkily, his fists clenching in his lap.

“Why?” she asked in disbelief. “Why did you beat him?” She felt a mixture of astonishment and a slight happiness that he had done that to Hugo.

James shook his head again, muttering more things that Lily couldn’t understand.

“He was drunk and he was saying things about you,” said Albus. “And James got a bit carried away.”

Lily felt her cheeks on fire, but she was angry for whatever Hugo might have said to them, and certainly not for the fact that James beat Hugo. “What did he say?” she asked frantically.

Once again, Albus was the one who replied. “He just said that you were beautiful,” he explained, “that he loved you, that he wanted to ask you out, but he didn’t know how to do it exactly. That he wanted to confess his love to you, but he was scared to death that you would run for the hills if he did.”

Lily’s cheeks were probably crimson, because they were on fire.

“He didn’t just do that, Al,” snapped James, glaring at their brother. “Remember?”

“What?” asked Lily, eyes wide going from James to Albus. “What else did he do?”

James’ face darkened even more. “He told us about this girl,” he muttered. “A few weeks ago.” He turned to look at Al. “When was that?”

Albus furrowed his brow in concentration. “Dad’s birthday party, I think,” he replied thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” said James. “I think that’s the night.”

“And? What did he say?” she urged them on.

James ran his hand through his uruly locks. “He told us about this girl,” he repeated, “this girl that he liked.” He took a deep breath. “God. I even asked for details,” he wailed.

“Details?” whispered Lily, feeling most of the blood draining from her face now.

James had the decency of blushing and keeping his eyes away from her, but unluckily he didn’t seem able to continue talking either.

“He said she was beautiful,” interjected Al. “I still remember his exact words, actually: the most gorgeous creature who has ever walked this earth. That’s what he said. And he said he’d already done something with her, but he didn’t say what, no matter how much James and Fred kept pestering him.”

“Thank Merlin,” muttered James, chewing on his bottom lip.

Lily looked from James to Albus, eyes wide and mouth equally wide.

“You were the girl,” explained Al unnecessarily. “He told that to us the night you were all busy with the baby shower.” He looked up at the ceiling and added, “He said he couldn’t take it anymore, that he loved you and that he wanted you like he had never wanted anybody else.”

She listened to them with her mouth and eyes still wide open, unable to believe that Hugo would say those things to them, that he would confess his love for her to all these people. She looked at James, without understanding what she felt at that moment. “And you beat him?” she whispered in disbelief. “You beat him because he said those things about me?”

He nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “He’s… he’s your cousin, he shouldn’t… he shouldn’t say those things about you.” He looked at her. “Those lies about you! You would never do anything with him, would you, Lily?”

She swallowed loudly and didn’t reply, but the guilt must have been written all over her face because James let out a small whine and added, “Oh God. You love him too, don’t you?”

She suddenly felt her cheeks on fire once again. “No! I hate him!” she said but, for the first time since two nights before, she felt as if she was lying.

James cocked an eyebrow. “But you did love him. Otherwise you would have never—”

“No. I… I didn’t… I just…” Why was she hesitating? She had to say that she didn’t love him, and that she had never loved him in all her life. “I… I’m tired,” she mumbled instead. “I think I need to sleep for a while.”

Her brothers exchanged a knowing glance, but they didn’t try to talk her into letting them stay a little longer. They both nodded, they stood from the sofa and then took turns at kissing her forehead.

“When you want us to take care of him,” whispered James, “just let us know.” He caressed her forehead and kissed her again.

She nodded and closed her eyes, then she listened to their steps as they walked towards the stairs and went downstairs to talk to their mother.

***

“You have to eat something, Lily,” said her mother sternly. “You can’t keep skipping meals.”

“I don’t feel like eating, okay?” she complained, crossing her arms over the blanket bobbed up in her lap. “I just want to sleep and be left here to drown in my misery.”

Her mother sat down gently at her side, squeezing her between her bum and the back of the sofa. “Hugo said that he hoped you’d let him see you,” she said. “He was looking quite handsome today and he even had flowers for you. Would you like to see them?”

“He came again?” asked Lily, her voice high-pitched. “No, I don’t want to see them.”

Her mother sighed. “He brought you lilies, your favourites.”

Lily darkened and didn’t reply, but it didn’t matter because she wouldn’t have had the opportunity of replying anything anyway since a voice that she knew well called them from the bottom of the stairs.

“Hello?” said Aunt Hermione. “Can I come upstairs?”

“No, no, no, no, no,” chanted Lily frantically, shaking her head and looking at her mother with eyes wide.

Her mother shook her head back at her and sighed. “Yes, Hermione, we’re in the children’s drawing room,” she called back.

“Muuum!” complained Lily in a whisper.

“Lily, your aunt is worried about you,” said her mother severely.

“No, she’s surely not,” she replied stubbornly, covering herself up to her head in the blanket. “She’s worried about her son.”

“Hey,” said Aunt Hermione, walking into the drawing room. “I just thought I’d pop in to say hi on my way back from work. How’s it going?”

There was a moment of silence where, very probably, her mother was communicating something to her aunt with either her gestures or her eyes. Lily drew back the blanket to glare at the two women.

Aunt Hermione smiled gently at her. “Hey, my little flower.”

Lily darkened slightly. “Hi, Aunt Hermione,” she muttered.

“You okay?”

“No,” she said, her voice a bit broken as she gazed at Aunt Hermione. Her aunt’s wild curls and her gentle smile brought back many unwanted memories of Hugo.

“How’s Hugo?” asked her mother before Lily could throw herself into a long crying complain about her aunt’s son.

Aunt Hermione sighed. “Not very well,” she said.

“Well, me neither!” snapped Lily.

“Is he at your house?” asked her mother, ignoring Lily completely.

Aunt Hermione nodded. “Ron is giving him a hard time, though,” she went on. “He told him that he knew he had fallen in love with Lily ever since we went to Penzance.”

“Did you tell him that we all did well before that?” snorted her mother, rolling her eyes for good measure.

Lily’s neck popped with a loud crack as she jerked her head towards her. “You _what_?”

Her mother looked at her as if she was surprised that Lily was surprised. “Well, it’s not exactly like the two of you have been subtle about it, have you?”

Aunt Hermione nodded seriously.

“What?” asked Lily again, her voice a soft whisper of disbelief.

“You ‘went out’ with Derek.” She did air quotes around that “went out”, just to stress the ridiculousness of that statement. “And not once I’ve heard you talking about him. While you mentioned Hugo every three words you said, you talked about him the way Uncle Ron used to talk about Aunt Hermione when they started dating—”

“Oh Ginny,” murmured Aunt Hermione, grinning and blushing. “But Hugo was just as bad, Lily, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, always talking about you, and how wonderful you are. Love surely _is_ blind…”

Lily blushed to the root of her hair. She was so embarrassed and shocked that she couldn’t even retort anything to her mother’s joke. 

“Anyway, yes, I told Ron that we all knew well before Penzance, and that even Grandma Molly had noticed and seemed satisfied that both Lily and Hugo had found someone that she’d approve of,” sighed Aunt Hermione. “But Ron made it clear that he was not very happy that Hugo would fall in love with his own cousin instead of another girl.”

“Well, he’s right,” muttered Lily. How much easier would it be if Hugo wasn’t her cousin? Now she wouldn’t be talking to his mother, nor she would be unable to get back to her flat because he was still there.

“Oh, that’s really narrow-minded,” said her mother sharply. “Just like when I got married, remember?”

“Yeah, God, you should have never showed him the tapestry,” snorted Aunt Hermione. “He almost ruined your special day with all his stupid babbling about inappropriateness.”

“I wanted to hex him,” sighed her mother. “And to think that Harry and I thought it was hilarious.”

Lily looked from one woman to the other, eyes narrowed, without understanding what the exchange was all about. “What are you talking about?” she asked confused. “Why would Uncle Ron ruin your day?”

Aunt Hermione looked from Lily back to her mother. “You didn’t tell her?” she asked.

Her mother shook her head. “Never really thought about telling the kids,” she said. “It felt so unimportant.”

“What?” said Lily, propping herself up. “What have you never told us?”

Her mother looked at her, a mixture of amusement and apprehension over her face. Then she stood up and nodded towards the stairs. “Let’s go,” she said. “I’ll show you something.”

“What?” said Lily, pushing back the blanket and standing up. “Where? Where are we going?”

“Upstairs.”

***

Lily hadn’t been upstairs in months, maybe years. She didn’t really like to go upstairs. Her parents had renovated only the right amount of rooms for a family of five, leaving a whole floor completely untouched, filled with old, dusty pieces of furniture and lots and lots of spiders.

“Where are we going?” she asked, half-annoyed and half-scared for any prospective spider-y encounters. She kept herself between her mother and her aunt, paying attention where she stepped.

“You’ll see,” said her mother cryptically. It didn’t take them long to get to their destination. Her mother pushed open the first door on the left and led them into an old, dusty room with nothing inside except for a big desk and a couple of half-destroyed chairs.

“Eww, Mum,” complained Lily as she saw something crawling into a corner. “What are we doing here?”

“Here,” said her mother, walking towards the wide wall covered in the tapestry of the Black family. “Come here.”

Aunt Hermione let out a small chuckle as Lily tiptoed amongst dead bugs and alive spiders. Lily hurried to the wall. “What?” she asked. “This is yucky, Mum, can’t you just tell me?”

“Here,” she said, pointing at the name ‘Ginevra Molly Potter’. “Put your finger here.”

Lily wrinkled her nose, but did as she was told. A miniature cloud of dust rose from the old tapestry when her mother put her own finger on Dad’s name. “What do I have to do?” asked Lily, shivering and coughing.

“Go up,” said her mother. “Follow the branch back of one generation.”

Lily sighed. “I know who your parents are, Mum,” she replied. “Don’t even have to read them: Molly and Arthur Weasley.”

Her mother nodded. “Very well,” she said, going up Dad’s branch herself. “And here we have James and Lily Potter.”

“Great, can we go back down, now?”

“No,” replied her mother calmly. “Go up again, follow Granddad’s branch.”

Lily rolled her eyes, but complied. “Cedrella and Septimus Weasley,” she said, “and I’m not even reading them because Great-Grandma Cedrella has been burnt off the tapestry for marrying a Weasley.” She couldn’t help thinking that it wasn’t such a bad idea, after all… to burn off people who married Weasleys… Weasleys didn’t bring anything good.

“Correct,” said her mother, “and here we have Dorea and Charlus Potter, if we follow Granddad James.” She nodded towards the tapestry. “Keep following the branch, follow Cedrella’s.”

Lily sighed. “Alright,” she said as her fingers skimmed on the rough surface. “Arcturus and Lysandra Black,” she read flatly, now she was just bored.

“Perfect, while if we follow Great-Grandma Dorea we get to Cygnus and Violetta Black,” said her mother with a smile.

“Great,” deadpanned Lily. “Can we go or do we have to go back to Godric Gryffindor?”

“Just go back once more,” encouraged her mother. “Follow Arcturus.”

She let out a frustrated grunt, but did as she was told. “Phineas Nigellus and Ursula Black,” she said with her voice thick with annoyance.

Her mother nodded and made her digit run up Cygnus’ branch, until her finger was right next to Lily’s. “Phineas Nigellus and Ursula,” she said, smiling gently. “Would you look at that?”

Lily stared at their fingers, pressed on the tapestry one right next to the other, before looking at her mother. “What?” she said. “What does it mean?”

Her mother took her finger away and shrugged a shoulder. “That your dad and I are cousins?” she said, grinning.

Lily’s eyes opened wide. “What?” she asked again in disbelief. “No way!”

“Yes way,” said Aunt Hermione amused.

“Well, third cousins,” said her mother, as Lily tried to trace down the branches again, counting the cousins and the generations. “But I still think it’s funny.”

“And in some countries you’re forbidden to marry up to your third cousin,” said Aunt Hermione. “According to the Muggle laws, naturally, not the Wizarding laws.”

“Oh dear Lord, no,” said her mother. “There wouldn’t be a single pureblood wizard in all of England if that was the case.”

“You and Dad are third cousins?” asked Lily in disbelief. “What the… Why have you never told me?”

“Would it have changed something?” asked her mother gently. “We had three beautiful albeit a bit rowdy children, we’re happy, we love each other—”

“Of course it would have changed something,” murmured Lily, her voice shaky with tears. “Maybe Hugo and I… We could have… We could have tried to make it work months ago. Maybe we didn’t because… because we thought… we thought that we were sick or something… I don’t know, but maybe… Maybe I wouldn’t have gone out with Derek if I knew that I didn’t have to… to…” She glanced at her mother, but her eyes were filled with tears. “Oh Mum!” she sobbed.

Her mother looked at her, a bit taken aback. “Blimey,” was all she managed to say, then her arms were around Lily and she pulled her to her chest, trying to quiet her sobs and comfort her with her caresses.

***

When Lily woke up the next morning, there was something both familiar and very foreign in the rough tongue that was licking her nose. She opened her eyes and found her dad’s face perched over her and Rufus’ paws digging painfully in her chest as he nuzzled his face against hers.

“Rufus!” she exclaimed, squishing him to her chest in a tight embrace. “I missed you.”

Her father stretched his hand towards her and handed her a piece of parchment.

“What is it?” she asked sleepily, grabbing the parchment nonetheless.

“Read it,” he said, “but before you do, tell me what you want for breakfast.”

She rubbed her eyes. “Milk and cereal, please Daddy?” she asked sweetly.

“Coming right up,” he grinned before exiting her room.

She sat up, giggling as Rufus tried to keep on licking her. “Wait, Rufus, wait! I’m happy to see you, too, but wait a second,” she said. She finally managed to open the parchment as Rufus started to knead her lap for a place where to curl up.

> _Lily,_
> 
> _We both miss you so much, but I thought that at least he can see you, right?_
> 
> _I love you,_
> 
> _Hugo xx_

Reading something that had been written by Hugo was so unexpected that she suddenly felt tears swell up in her eyes. She brushed them away angrily, though. She would not cry because of a sappy message. She would not do that. Yes, now that the anger of her first few days had been mitigated by other things – the comforting time spent with her family, the thought that her parents were cousins, her brothers coming to visit her – she sometimes felt like she almost missed him. But one quick thought at what he had done and she started to call herself all sorts of names for her stupidity. She was not going to think about him. She was not going to do it.

Her dad brought her breakfast, and she thanked him and ate it in silence, replying one-word-answers to his cheerful questions.

“Why are you home, Dad?” she asked when she couldn’t take his jolly disposition anymore. “Don’t you work today?”

“I’m only home until Mum comes back from the newsroom,” he said gently.

She narrowed her eyes before looking at him horrified. “You’re doing it for me?” she asked. “You’re taking time off from work to stay with me?”

He smiled fondly at her. “Well, I’m the Head Auror; I can do everything I want, right?”

She hunched her shoulders a bit. “Yeah, but you’re staying here for me?” She felt guilty that her parents would feel the urge to stay home from work to look after her, as if she was a child or someone who could have done something stupid and needed constant vigilance.

“Well, you’re my little pumpkin…” His voice trailed away as he turned his head towards the stairs. Someone was knocking on the main door, and her father seemed torn between ignoring it and going to see who it was. “I… hum… I’ll be right back, okay Lily?”

She nodded slowly, and didn’t return his smile as he walked out of her bedroom. She waited for his steps to fade away down the stairs and jumped out of bed, quickly running towards Albus’ room, which had the best view over the main entrance.

She felt her heart in her throat as she curled her legs under her on the window seat and grabbed the window fixtures. She held her breath and finally looked down.

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Hugo. He was standing there, with a bunch of flowers in his hand and wearing an elegant shirt. He looked pale, and his red hair was looking even redder in contrast with his complexion. He smiled tiredly as the door opened, but didn’t move forward, instead he stepped back and waited for her dad to join him in the garden.

They talked for a bit, smiling at each other and nodding, and it was only when she managed to read her name on Hugo’s lips that she saw her father shake his head.

Hugo seemed to take a deep breath and nodded. He gave the flowers to her father and kept on talking about something, but he wasn’t smiling anymore. He looked particularly sombre now, almost sad.

She stared at him, feeling something pulling in her chest, a distinct ache and longing. She let out a small whine when he seemed to be saying bye to her father, and then he turned away from the house and towards the Apparition point on the other side of the street.

Lily found her palm pressed against window without even noticing that she had moved her hand.

“He’s going to come back this afternoon,” said her mother at her back, making her start. “I can ask him to come in if you want.”

“No,” she replied, not even turning to look at her. “No, it doesn’t matter.” She felt a tear tracing down her cheek and she hastily brushed it away.

***

> _Dear Lavender,_
> 
> _I’ve made a mess, a complete and utter mess. I lost the girl I love. It was a mistake, and I was an idiot. I was angry and I said and did things that I didn’t mean. And now she’s left me and I don’t know what to do without her. I love her more than life. I need her more than oxygen. And I want her more than I want to live._
> 
> _Please, tell me what to do to get her back. How do I win her heart again? How do I let her know that she’s everything to me? How do I tell her that I’m sorry?_
> 
> _Help me, please._
> 
> _Yours,_
> 
> _Idiot x_

***

> _Dear Idiot,_
> 
> _I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do to win this girl’s heart back. If you’ve done a mess, chances are she’s never going to forgive you. We don’t like to be played with, we don’t like to be kissed one day only to be discarded the following night. We don’t like to be part of your petty games. We don’t like to be told that you love us, only to find out that you’ve had sex with another girl a few hours later. Okay? We don’t like boys in general. Nor men. We don’t need you; in fact, we hate you._
> 
> _So, I’m sorry, but for the sake of this girl, you should never talk to her again._
> 
> _Yours,_
> 
> _Lavender_

***

When there was the same knock on the door later that afternoon, Lily crawled back to Albus’ room, perching herself against the window as she looked down at Hugo talking to her mother. Again, he started with a bit of laughter, some smiles and nods, and when it was clear that her mother had told him that Lily didn’t want to see him, his face became sad all of a sudden once more.

He handed her another bunch of flowers and a small note before exchanging some other words, and finally leaving again. She felt her eyes fill with tears as he walked to the Apparition point, checked that no Muggles were coming, and Disapparated without even looking up.

She made her way towards her room once more, stopping in front of the stairs when she heard her mother’s steps. She was holding the flowers in one hand, the note in the other, and a small smile on her face.

“They’re really pretty,” she said, when Lily looked away from them. “And they smell beautifully.”

“I don’t want to see them,” she muttered, going towards the drawing room.

“Will you at least read his note?”

She looked at her mother as she placed the flowers in a vase. “Why are you always so keen to take Hugo’s side?” she asked bitterly. “You should tell him to go away and never come back.”

“But then you wouldn’t be able to spy him through the window,” she pointed out gently, stretching the hand with the note to her.

Lily darkened, but took the note and opened it, skimming quickly through it.

> _Lily,_
> 
> _Will you come to the flat tonight? I just want to talk to you. Please? I miss you._
> 
> _Hugo xxx_

She crumpled it up and threw it to the other side of the room. “No,” she replied out loud.

“What was the question?” asked her mother lightly.

“If I can go to the flat tonight,” she said. “Of course I can’t.” She raised her chin. “I’ll go only when he’s moved out, so that I can move in again.” She looked at her mother. “Can we buy the flat off Uncle Ron?”

Her mother sighed slightly. “I don’t think that he wants to sell it, Lily. Lots of memories for him, you know?”

“Then _we_ should sell it,” she growled.

“It has lots of memories for us too, Lily,” she said. “I used to spend all my time home from the trainings in that flat.”

“And that’s where I got my heart broken,” she pointed out darkly. “Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Her mother smiled and shook her head. “I’m afraid that’s not enough to convince your father to sell,” she replied gently.

Lily drew the blanket up over her head. “Great,” she muttered.

“Do you want to come to the Burrow, tomorrow?”

“Why?” she asked from behind the blanket. “What day is it?”

“Tomorrow is Sunday, and I’m sure Grandma would love to—”

“Is _he_ going?” she asked, peering over the blanket.

Her mother shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not sure,” she replied quietly.

“Then no,” she replied dryly, “and I don’t want to see anybody anyway.” She pouted, but her mother couldn’t see it. “And nobody wants to see me, Mum. Nobody came to visit me…”

“Oh, they all wanted to, but I told them that you needed a bit of time,” replied her mother calmly. “Shall I tell them that you want to see them? Rosie, maybe? Or Vicky?”

“No, no,” she replied hastily. “I don’t want to see them.”

Her mother took a deep breath. “Alright, Lils. But Grandma is going to be devastated that—”

“Tell her that she can come to say hi,” she replied mollified. “Only her… and Granddad Arthur.”  

Her mother took quite some time to reply and, for a moment, Lily thought that she had already left. “Lily, you do know what the problem is, don’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes, your family is too big,” she complained.

“You’re bound to see Hugo at some point,” she corrected her. “Family dinners, Quidditch matches, Diagon Alley… The fact that he’s your cousin makes avoid him all the more difficult. Maybe, the sooner the better? You can talk and clear the air.”

“He said that he loved me, he kissed me, and the following night he had sex with another girl,” said Lily bitterly. “I think the air stinks so much that not even a Cleaning Spell will be able to clean it, Mum.”

“Just listen to what he has to say, Lily,” insisted her mother. “You’re suffering, he is suffering, and… maybe not everything is what it seems.”

“It is,” she insisted.

“But maybe you just—”

“No, Mum! Please, leave me alone!”

***

She didn’t even move back to her room after Hugo had left on Sunday morning. She waited for her mother to bring up the umpteenth bunch of flowers and another note. She tore it from her mother’s hand and opened it.

> _Lily,_
> 
> _If you want to go to the Burrow today, I won’t come, I swear._
> 
> _Unless you want me to. Just know that I’d love to see you, we don’t even have to talk, just seeing you would make my day._
> 
> _Hugo xxx_

She darkened, crumbled it up and threw it away.

“What did he say?” asked her mother.

“Nothing,” she replied dryly. “Are you all going to the Burrow?” she asked anxiously.

Her mother nodded. “Come with us.”

“No,” she replied. “I don’t feel well.”

“You’re going to feel worse if you don’t get out of this house, at least for a small walk,” she pointed out.

“I’ll get out,” she sighed. “One day. I promise.”

Her mother nodded slowly. “What are you going to do if Hugo comes and you’re here alone?” she asked.

Lily glared at her. “I’m not going to open,” she replied tersely. “I’ll pretend that nobody’s home. And I’m not alone anyway, Rufus is here.”

“What if Hugo knows that you’re here too?”

“Well, don’t tell him!” she snapped.

“What if he comes to the Burrow and doesn’t see you?”

“Oh Muuum!” she sighed. “I just won’t open the door. He knows by now that I don’t want to talk to him.”

Her mother looked at her and nodded. “Okay,” she sighed. “Whatever you want, Lily.”

***

The day went on slowly. Lily was there all alone – Rufus was off exploring some part of the house that he hadn’t probably seen yet – and she got bored after five minutes that her family had left. She read, she replied to some more letters, destroying love lives and romantic dreams of boys and girls from all over Britain. She couldn’t see why she had to suffer alone, after all.

At three, there was a knock on the door, and she hurried, heart in her throat again, to Albus’ window. Hugo was standing in the garden, looking heart-stoppingly handsome and ridiculous at the same time in a tie and a suit.

She looked down at him and bit her bottom lip, pressing her palm against the window; she let out an involuntary sigh and felt something her stomach stir. No. Not those stupid butterflies again! She would pluck the wings off their tiny, imaginary bodies one after one if she could.

Then, suddenly, Hugo did something Lily had never seen him do before. He took a deep breath and looked up and straight at Albus’ window.

 _Straight at her_.

She gasped softly as he raised a shy hand to wave at her, his face worried and his smile tense. He raised the flowers, too, and tried to smile a bit more brightly, but he didn’t seem able to.

Lily stared at him for what seemed ages, unable to look away from his handsome face, before she finally found the force to withdraw from the window and give him her back. She counted up to one hundred – in time with her heartbeat – before she turned again towards the garden, but he had left already, leaving the flowers and a piece of parchment on the steps down there for her.

She considered climbing down the stairs to collect them, but decided against it. Instead, she opened the window and Summoned them upstairs with her wand. She pushed her nose in the roses and took a deep breath. They smelled sweet and nice. She opened the note almost anxiously.

> _Lily,_
> 
> _Please, please, please, come to the flat tonight. Please, I beg of you. I want to see you so much it hurts._
> 
> _Hugo xxx_

This time, she didn’t crumple it up. There was nobody there to see her, so she just pressed it against her chest. He was good with words; he was good with pretending he cared about her. She had to pay attention, because the more she read those little notes, the closer she felt she was to capitulate to his constant requests of seeing her and do something stupid.

Something stupid would mean that she accepted to see him. Oh God! She didn’t want to see him and, at the same time, she wanted to see him so much, it hurt her too. But maybe… Maybe she could go and see him, just to make him stop.  Just to let him know that there was no future for them, that he had screwed things up too badly, and that he should bring his daily psychological assaults to her persona to an end.

She took a deep breath and imagined herself looking calm and collected, knowing exactly what to say to him, flooding him with a river of heartless, sharp words, reiterating how much she hated him every five minutes, keeping him at a distance with a spell. She imagined Hugo listening to her, looking contrite, maybe crying and begging her to take him back, to forgive him, to let him kiss her and hug her.

She felt her cheeks burn at the thought while the butterflies seemed to mock her as they swirled around in her stomach.

No, no, no! She pressed her hands on her tummy to keep them still. He had cheated on her a day after he had given her a toe-curling kiss in those changing rooms. She had to remember that. Why did she feel like she kept forgetting it? He had ripped her heart out of her chest. Was that not enough for her to hate him? What else did she need? That he hit her? That he told her that he hated her? God! She couldn’t give him the satisfaction of still having some sort of power over her.

She curled her palm around the note in her hand and crumpled it up in a tight, little ball. She threw it to the floor and pointed her wand towards it. “ _Incendio_ ,” she whispered and stared as it burst into flames.

She would never go to him. _Never_.

***

“I really don’t think she wants to see you, Ron.”

“I’m her uncle; of course she wants to see me, Ginny.”

“You are the father of the boy who’s just broken her heart,” pointed out Lily’s mother matter-of-factly.

“Yes, and you’re the mother of the boy who’s broken my son’s nose,” said Uncle Ron calmly.

“You really want to go there?” asked her mother in disbelief. “Your daughter sent my son to St Mungo’s the other week. She used the Pimple Jinx. On his arse.”

Rose did _what_?

“Details. She was just angry for the way your son treated her brother,” replied Uncle Ron. “And for your information, my son’s heart is just as broken as your daughter’s.”

Lily brought down the blanket and glared in the direction of the stairs that she could see through the open door of the drawing room. Uncle Ron was shouting, as if he wanted Lily to hear him. Well, Lily was hearing loud and clear. How dared he to say that Hugo’s heart was as broken as hers? Hugo hadn’t walked on her having sex with Derek the night after he declared his love for her! Well, Lily hadn’t either – technically – but she trusted McLaggen enough to consider his confession like walking in on Hugo and Marie.

“I just want to see her,” continued Uncle Ron and now Lily could hear steps on the stairs. “Just want to talk to her. I think she has the right to know, anyway.”

Her mother steps were quicker than her uncle and Lily imagined that she overtook Uncle Ron and went to stand on a couple of steps higher to be able to look at him in the eyes. “Oh yes, that’s what you want to do, don’t you?” she asked dryly. “Just tell her. Not blame this on her in the slightest, right?”

“Well, it is her fault,” replied Uncle Ron harshly.

“No, it’s not!” her mother snapped. “It’s all Hugo’s fault.”

Lily furrowed her brow as the argument became more and more heated. Finally, her mother was openly blaming Hugo for their break up, but Lily was not surprised in the least that Uncle Ron was blaming Lily instead. It made her angry, though. She thought that even Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione would understand that it was all Hugo’s fault. He had slept with another girl, what was Lily supposed to do? Forgive him and forget about it? Never. She would never forget what he had done to her.

She pushed away the blanket completely, involuntarily cocooning Rufus into it in the corner of the sofa. Rufus didn’t seem to mind, so she left him there and stood up.

She schooled the most severe expression over her face as she made her way towards the top of the stairs. The voices became louder and, when she stuck out her head over the railing, she could see Uncle Ron’s red hair bouncing wildly over his head. He was gesticulating in her mother’s face as he kept repeating that Lily needed to know something and that yes, he definitely blamed her for it.

Lily took a deep breath and started to climb down the stairs. Her socked feet were silent even on the creaking woods of Grimmauld Place, and she could actually see Uncle Ron’s eyes widening when he finally noticed that she was standing a few steps above him.

“…and she’s in a fragile state of—”

“Hello, Lily,” said Uncle Ron, cutting off Lily’s mother. His eyes looked from her tangled hair to her pale face to her dirty t-shirt and naked legs, and down to her holey socks. “You look… hem… good…”

Lily narrowed her eyes as she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. “Hello, Uncle Ron,” she replied coldly, while her mother turned to look at her.

“Oh Lily,” she said, climbing up the stairs to where she was standing. “Did we disturb you? Uncle Ron was right about to leave. He just wanted to say hi.”

Lily kept her cold eyes on her uncle. “Did he?” she asked coolly.

Uncle Ron folded his arms across his chest, too. He was staring back at her with a severe expression over his face. “I came to see how you were doing,” he said firmly. “And I was wondering if you were interested in some news about Hugo.”

Her nostrils flared dangerously and if a glare could kill, Uncle Ron would be dead already. “I’m not doing well,” she replied, “thank you to your son. So no, I’m not interested in any news about Hugo.” She turned on her heels and started her slow ascent towards her beloved sofa.

“He’s just got his reply from the Woollongong Warriors,” Uncle Ron called after her. “They’re looking forward to having him playing for them, and I have to say that I’m not surprised.”

Lily stopped dead on the stairs. She stared in front of herself as her uncle’s words sunk into her brain and they slowly started to make sense to her. She felt her heart involuntarily skip a beat as she turned around to look at her Uncle’s face. She opened her mouth, but the first one to talk wasn’t Lily.

“What?” asked her mother, voice thick with disbelief. “The Woollongong Warriors? You didn’t say the team was in Australia!”

Uncle Ron nodded seriously. “Australia,” he replied gravely. “He’s already handed in his notice to the Puddlemere United manager, and Oliver has pulled a couple of strings to get him to do an interview with the Warriors via the Floo and they hired him on the spot.”

“The Floo?” asked her mother. “How on earth—”

“I don’t know how, I’m not a freaking expert,” replied Uncle Ron harshly. “I just know that he got in.”

“When is he leaving?” asked her mother.

“Three days, two if he can pack his stuff and get a Portkey from Percy by tomorrow.”

Lily’s head was spinning under all those unexpected pieces of news. Something astonishing was happening inside of her: she didn’t think her heart could break in even smaller pieces than it had already done, but right now an even worse pain was piercing through her chest.

Hugo was leaving. Hugo was leaving for Australia.

“How long is he going to stay there?” asked her mother.

“Six years,” replied her uncle. “He got one hell of a contract.”

Six years. Six years. Hugo was leaving for Australia for six years.

“He wants to see you before he leaves,” said Uncle Ron. “He just wants to talk to you one last time. He wants to say his goodbye properly.”

Lily looked at him, eyes wide, unable to reply to him.

“And to be honest, I want you to go and try to talk him out of it,” went on Uncle Ron. “But your mother disagrees with me, apparently.”

“I didn’t understand that he wanted to go all the way to Australia!” protested her mother. “When you said a foreign team I thought you meant the Pride of Portree or the Kestrels in Ireland! I didn’t think he’d go… that far…” Her voice trailed away and she looked rather discomfited.

“He said that he can’t bear to stay here and be a cause of unhappiness for Lily,” said Uncle Ron solemnly.

“Oh Merlin,” murmured her mother, bringing her hands to her mouth.

Lily stared at her uncle with eyes wide. She should have rejoiced. She would finally be free to get back to her flat, to live her life, to forget him. She should have jumped up and down for Grimmauld Place.

Then why did she feel suddenly incredibly miserable and empty?

“Oh my God, Lily!” said her mother unexpectedly. “Oh my darling. No, don’t cry.” She went to her and hugged Lily to her chest as if her life depended on it.

“I’m not crying,” she sobbed, tears spilling over the corners of her eyes and joining the ones that were already tracing her cheeks. “I’m not… I’m not crying…” She hid her face in her mother’s chest and let her cradle in her arms.

***

Lily spent the rest of the day and part of the night torturing herself.

She couldn’t let him go without telling him what she thought about him. She couldn’t let him go without first confronting him at least another time about what he had done to her. She couldn’t let him go without getting the satisfaction of screaming at him and calling him names. She couldn’t let him go without saying goodbye. She couldn’t let him go… She couldn’t let him go. She just couldn’t let him go…

She fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning, and when her mother came into her room at around midday, bringing more flowers and another note, she stirred and hummed.

“Are you okay?” asked her mother. “You look tired.”

“I didn’t sleep too well,” she replied as she took the note from her hand and rubbed her eyes to manage to read it.

> _Lily,_
> 
> _I’d love to see you tonight. Please, you’d make my day if you came. Please, please, please._
> 
> _Love,_
> 
> _Hugo xxx_

She crumpled it up, but didn’t throw it away. This time she kept it in her hand and hid it under the covers.

“I might go to see Hugo,” she said lightly. “Maybe tonight.”

Her mother stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide and mouth equally wide as she looked at her. “Beg your pardon?” she asked softly. “Are you really going to try to make him change his mind about Australia?”

Lily raised her chin in a haughty gesture. “Of course not, Mother. I just can’t take his daily assaults—”

“He brings you flowers and love letters, darling.”

Lily glared at her. “As I was saying,” she continued. “I can’t take his daily assaults to my persona. And I think that we have some things to talk about before he leaves. In fact, I’ve thought up what to say to him for most of the night. You could say that I’ve prepared a speech.”

Her mother cocked her head. “A speech,” she said calmly. “You prepared a speech?”

She nodded seriously. “Of course,” she replied. “I’ve got lots of things to tell him and I don’t want to forget any. I should probably write it down, too…”

Her mother closed her eyes for a moment. “Lily, promise me that you’ll have a conversation with him,” she said calmly. “That you’ll listen to him, too.”

“I’ve already listened to him, Mum,” she replied bitterly. “He called me a slag.”

Her mother took a deep breath. “He was upset,” she said, “and drunk. You do know how it feels to be inebriated and angry and hurt, don’t you?”

Lily let out a frustrated sound. “Why do you always take his side? Just because he’s leaving for Australia and not coming back for years?” She felt her heart skip another beat as she reminded her self that that would have been the last time she saw Hugo.

“I don’t take his side,” she replied calmly. “I just don’t want you to regret anything.”

“I won’t.” She darkened a little. “I swear.”

***

He came back in the afternoon, with more flowers and more notes. Lily knelt on Albus’ windowsill, and looked down as her mother went out to talk to him. She could understand perfectly well what was happening, even when she couldn’t hear them nor read their lips.

She knew when her mother told him that he couldn’t come in, because he nodded disconsolately. But then, her arm stretched towards his shoulder and she added something and Hugo’s face went from miserable to astonished to happy. He said something really quickly, then he was gesticulating, his flowers bouncing from the bunch and flying in the air.

Her mother tried to calm him down, her face grave as if she was telling him not to expect too much. Or maybe that Lily was still angry. Or maybe to brace himself because she had a lot to tell him. But Hugo didn’t seem to listen. He rubbed a hand all over his face and nodded quickly, telling something to her mother before laughing.

She so wanted to open the window and listen to what he was saying. She so wanted to hear his excited voice as he talked about that evening.

Her mother shook her head and grabbed his arm, trying to stop his mad gesticulating, but she smiled too before trying to attract his attention and tell him something serious.

He nodded, eyes wide, and then nodded again. Then he finally hugged her and kissed her cheeks, even though her mother was clearly trying to keep him calm. He gave her the flowers and the note, and then took the note back and laughed as he pocketed it.

Lily swallowed and looked at him as he lowered his eyes and then took a deep breath and raised them towards Albus’ window. His eyes met hers for a moment and he smiled and waved, still kind of shyly, but he looked also incredibly happy.

She hardened her expression on purpose, glaring back at him even when her heart skipped a beat.

He didn’t stop smiling, though, and stood there until she descended from the windowsill and walked out of his sight.

***

Lily was crestfallen to remember that almost all of her clothes were at the flat. She had lived dressed in a smelly t-shirt for the past six days, the only nice thing she had there was the dress that he had called her a slag for. She certainly couldn’t wear _that_.

Luckily, she hadn’t outgrown any of her older clothes, they were just old and out of fashion. Definitely _not_ what she needed at that moment in time. She needed to be dazzling; she wanted him to look at her and think about what he had lost forever due to his stupidity.

“Mummy,” she said as she finally, after almost a week, descended to the ground floor of Grimmauld Place.

Her mother looked at her from over her cup of tea, a smile over her face. “Oh, you found the strength to get down here, Lily?”

She nodded and looked solemnly at her. “Mum, I need clothes.”

Her mother nodded back. “Yes, dear. Tell me what you need and I’ll get them for you.”

Her lips stretched into a gigantic smile. “Oh, really? Thanks, Mum!” She raised her hands to count on her fingers. “A dress would be lovely, maybe something dark? Like the new model that was at Madam Malkin’s last week, did you see it? And boots, I’d love a new pair of boots. And maybe a pair of jeans? I’ve always wanted the—”

“Lily, I meant from the flat,” said her mother, raising a hand to quiet her.

She looked at her horrified. “What? No, no,” she replied. “I can’t let him know that I’m putting too much effort in what I wear. He’ll think… he’ll think that I want to look good for him. Which I don’t. I just want to look good and let him know that he can’t have me. I want to make him suffer while he packs his stuff to go to Australia.”

“Lily…”

“No, no,” she said. “I’m not listening to you, Mum. He made me suffer. It’s the least I can do, right?”

“Lily, he was really excited when I told him you’d go tonight,” she replied. “He couldn’t stop grinning and talking about what you’d like to tell you and what he’d do for you…”

Lily darkened. “I don’t care,” she said softly. “Whatever he’ll do or say I’ll never change my mind.” She looked at her mother with puppy eyes. “So will you get me something to wear from Diagon Alley?”

Her mother folded her arms across her chest. “Not if it’s just to be mean to Hugo. Especially right now when he’s about to leave for the other side of the world.”

Lily stomped her naked foot on the floor. “See? You’re always taking his side!” she snapped, feeling tears threatening to spill over the corners of her eyes. “Always!”

“I’m not taking anybody’s side, Lily,” she snapped back. “I just want you to go there and talk to him like an adult. He’s a very mature person who took a very important decision, you should—”

“He’s not mature. Having occasional sex with someone you’re not involved with is not acting maturely, is it?”

Her mother rolled her eyes and seemed to bite down on her tongue. “Listen, talk to him before you judge him,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll see things—”

“He’s just good with words. What did he tell you? I bet he was like, _Oh, I’m sorry, Auntie Ginny, I didn’t mean to make your daughter suffer, I’m definitely an idiot, so I’m leaving for an island far far away and will never see any of you for years_ , and you just turned to mush because of his smile and his puppy eyes and his deep voice…” She blushed as she said these things, she blushed at the thought of his smile and eyes and voice.

Her mother was staring at her with an eyebrow quirked. “Yeah, it didn’t exactly go like that,” she said slowly. “Listen, you know you’re my little princess, don’t you? And it’s because I love you that I want you to go and talk to him.”

“I said that I will,” she snorted. “Isn’t that enough?”

“You have to listen to him too, Lily,” she said patiently. “Promise me.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I promise I’ll listen to him whine and cry and beg me to move back into the flat and give him another chance and ask him to stay here.”

Her mother shook her head.

“And if I’m not back home in one hour, you’ll come and look for me, right?” she went on. “I mean, what if he’s gone crazy and… and…”

“Lily, nothing’s going to happen to you. I’m more worried about him.”

“But you’ll come and look for me, right? Because what if—Hey!”

Her mother smiled gently. “I’ll come looking for you if you insist, but I’d rather not disturb you while you explain yourselves.”

“Yes, please, come,” she said. “So… all I have is the dress from the other night… Are you sure you can’t go and get me something from Madam Malkin’s? I’ll give you the money…”

Her mother stood up and turned away from her. “Pretty sure, yes.”

Lily sighed, she almost considered going to Diagon Alley by herself, but what if she met him there? No, she would wear the dress. Yes, it didn’t matter if he didn’t like it, she would tell him that his mother had considered it suitable and that he had offended not only her, but his mother, too. Yes, after all, that was not a bad idea, at all.

She spent most of the afternoon getting ready. She took a long, hot shower, styled her hair, put on makeup and jewels, and then she donned the dress, which her mother had cleaned of all the blood.

She stared at her reflection for hours, tweaking a curl here and refining her makeup there, smoothing her dress down with her hands over her stomach, and switching her rings from finger to finger to find what combination worked best. She borrowed her mother’s earrings and a long necklace that reached down to her navel.

“You look beautiful, pumpkin,” said her father from the door. “Are you going somewhere?”

She looked at him through his reflection in the mirror. “Yes, Dad. As if Mum hasn’t told you,” she replied calmly.

He smiled gently. “Hugo’s going to be happy to see you.”

“I’m not going there to make him happy, Dad.”

“I know,” he replied diplomatically. “But he’ll be happy anyway.”

She found it annoying that everybody in her family seemed more concerned with Hugo’s happiness rather than her own. All right, maybe they didn’t want him to leave, but was Lily’s pain really that unimportant to them?

Where was James when she needed him? She hoped he had gone and beat up Hugo at least another time since he had talked to her, but Hugo had never sported any bruises when she saw him in the past days, so James had probably not gone at all. She was sure that her mother or Rose were to blame for that.

“Okay,” she replied flatly. “Glad to hear that he’ll be happy.”

“I’m sure you’re happy to see him, too.”

“No, I’m not. I’m dreading that moment.”

Her father took a deep breath and cocked his head. “Do you want to use the Floo?”

“No, I’ll Apparate,” she replied, focusing back on her reflection.

“Pay attention, and if you’re upset at the end of the evening—”

“Dad, last time it was the first time ever that I Splinched myself,” she pointed out. “I promise I’ll be alright.”

He nodded. “Okay, pumpkin.” He smiled at her and she smiled back quickly before lowering her eyes again.

“What’s the time?” she asked nonchalantly.

“Almost seven. What time are you going?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “Whenever I’m ready to go.”

***

She was ready at eight o’clock, and descended the stairs in her short dress and heels, while her parents stared at her.

“You look like you’re ready for a ball, pumpkin,” said her father.

“I was,” she replied coldly. “I’ll be back in one hour-ish, and if you don’t see me—”

“I know, I’ll come and look for you,” said her mother. “Have a lovely evening, dear.”

“I’m not going on a date,” she reminded her dryly. “I’ve memorised the things I’ll say to him; I’m going there to let him know exactly what—”

“Have fun,” said her father, kissing her forehead and cutting her rambling off.

She rolled her eyes, darkened, and muttered a farewell before walking towards the door. She opened it and for the first time in almost a week found herself in the outside world.

She took a deep breath and crossed the street to the Apparition point. She thought intensely of Diagon Alley and then she was finally gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, look at the bright side, this is the last cliffhanger in the story.. Or is it?! Hahaha, just joking, it really is. ❤


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Alright. This is it. I’m feeling so nervous I think I’m probably going to chew through my lower lip, today. I’ve kept editing this chapter until… _now_ and I’m feeling satisfied and disappointed at the same time about it; last chapters are always a pain for me to write, especially when half of me doesn’t want the story to end. On top of that, I always feel rather wary of the way I write emotions - and boy, there are lots of emotions here! It is what you were hopefully waiting for, though.
> 
> First of all, guys, _again_ , thank you SO freaking much for your support, for reading this story, for commenting, for giving it kudos, for bookmarking or following it. Thank you for making me the happiest author on this archive. I’ve said this many times before but I just want to reiterate it once more: this story is very important to me not only because it’s _my_ story, but because it’s about this pairing, and it’s the first and probably only Hugo/Lily multi-chaptered story that will ever be published on the internet (although, never say never. I do have a trilogy in mind for our favourite couple…), and you have followed it and showed your love for it and graciously allowed me to drag you into my world without complaining.
> 
> I can’t believe it took me one whole year (I started writing the first chapter back in February 2015) to find the courage to post this. I convinced myself that there was no room for this story on the internet, that it would have surely been a flop. You proved me wrong time and time again, though, and I can’t thank you enough for that. Right now, I feel like we’re more than just author and readers, I feel like we’re a family, whether you’ve commented on one chapter or each and every single one of them, whether you’ve left kudos or just lurked in the shadows, I love you all and I can’t even start to tell you what an awesome experience this has been for me. 
> 
> Alright, rant is over. You are free to go and read the chapter, now. ❤️

***

Lily’s fingers tingled with nervousness, her stomach was in knots, and the blood pulsing in her temples was dangerously close to cause her a migraine.

She was standing in front of the door of her flat, key in her shaky hand as she stared at the keyhole as if it contained all the secrets of the universe.

She could hear noises coming from the other side, pots and plates being moved around. Was he cooking something? Was he cooking for _her_? Did he think that that was a date? It was most definitely not. And she wasn’t hungry, anyway. Au contraire, she felt like she could throw up any minute if she had to be honest.

She wondered if she would feel better if she just turned around and walked away. Yes, probably she would… She shook her head resolutely. She couldn’t. She was there to unleash all her anger over him, just like he had done the night of the ball. She would go through with this. She would show him. She pressed her lips firmly together, went through her speech in her mind one more time, and finally fiddled with the key in the hole.

When she pushed the door open, all noises ceased at once. She swallowed hard and walked in there; her face dark and eyes reduced to two fissures.

Hugo was standing in front of the kitchen counter. He was wearing an elegant shirt and trousers, on top of which he had donned a white apron; his curls looked styled instead than just randomly messy like they usually were, his blue eyes were wide and a small, wondrous smile stretched his lips the moment he looked at her.

“Hi,” he whispered, his voice breathy and throaty.

She took a deep breath and did her best to compel herself to glare at him. “Hi,” she replied coolly, closing the door at her back with much more force than it needed.

His smile seemed to deepen even more, as if her greeting was enough to send him to the moon and back, even when it was said with such contempt from her part.

“I… I didn’t think you’d come,” he admitted in a murmur, untying the apron on his back and pulling it off himself. “But I’m so happy you did.”

She nodded curtly before looking at the rumbling pots at his back. “Are you expecting someone after me?” she asked frostily.

“No, no. It’s for you,” he said, smiling shyly. “I’m making what you said you’d like.”

She widened her eyes and then furrowed her brow. “Beg your pardon?” she asked in a hiss. She hadn’t said anything at all, and she didn’t want anything at all from him anyway.

“When you replied to my letter,” he murmured, nodding towards a newspaper clipping that lay on the table, between the crystal flutes and the good china.

“What are you talking about?” she growled, grabbing the piece of newspaper for a closer examination.

“Well, you probably didn’t know that it was me,” he said softly. “I’m… I’m ‘Idiot’, you know… And I was so happy that you’d tell me all those things, I just couldn’t believe that you’d write such encouraging things, it was as if you were talking right to…”

She tuned out his voice as she stared at the reply ‘Idiot’ had got for his letter. Her reply. Only, it wasn’t her reply at all. She had written to him to lose all hope about getting the girl back, she had been realistic and truthful, even if a bit harsh. And this… this was not what she had written. She skimmed through it quickly. _…make an effort if you’d like to conquer her back… seafood is always an excellent choice, you can’t go wrong with seafood… listen to her, let her explain and talk only when she asks for your explanations…_ She crumpled the corners a bit as she fisted the clipping in her hands.

“You always write so well, you’ve never needed me at—”

“I didn’t write this! My mum did!” she snapped, looking up at him. “I wrote not to waste your time and energy to get the girl back, because she surely doesn’t want to get back with you!”

Hugo’s eyes were wide and frightened as he stared at her. He swallowed, looked away from her, and bit his bottom lip. “I’m happy you came,” he repeated, his voice feeble now. “I’m happy to see you.” He looked back at her. “I missed you so much.”

“Oh, you did, didn’t you?” she hissed, making the article fall back to the table and folding her arms across her chest. “Didn’t you Floo Call Marie? I’m sure she would’ve kept you company.”

His eyes widened at the mention of Marie, as if he thought that she wouldn’t have brought her up. “Lily, please, listen to me, I swear I didn’t have sex with her, I swear I—”

“Yes. Right,” she cut him off harshly, raising a hand in front of his face to shut him up. “You know what? I’m not here to listen to your lies, okay? I’m here to tell you exactly what I think about you. I’m here to let you know that there’ll never be another chance for us, because you ruined everything. Every single thing we had. Do you even understand what you did to me? Do you even remember the things you’ve said? You talked to me like I was a… a… a scarlet woman! Like I didn’t—”

“Lily, if you could just let me—”

“No! I can’t let you do anything at all because I hate you!” she snapped, her voice raising with every word she said. “I’ve never hated anybody as much as I hate you. You said that you loved me, you freaking kissed me. But you just lied to me! You said that you wanted me, you said that you were crazy about me! And they were lies! Lies! All lies!” She took a step towards him and then another one, until she was standing in front of him. She raised her hand and proceeded to poke him in his chest in rhythm with her words. She hoped her bony fingertips were painful against his ribs. “ _I love you Lily_ ,” she mimicked in a high-pitched and whiney tone of voice. “And I was stupid enough to believe you. And then the next day, only because I was a bit late to a stupid ball, you just go and screw another girl, just like that! Like what you told me didn’t mean anything! Like I was nothing for you! Like I didn’t count anything!” 

“I—”

“No!” she shouted. “I don’t want to hear anything from you! Anything! I went to break up with Derek, I told him that I loved you and only you, and you know what he said? He said that he knew already! That it was clear! I’ve been in love with you all summer, and you didn’t even notice, you didn’t even—no! Don’t touch me! Don’t! You don’t get to touch me after what you’ve done!” She took a step back and angrily brushed away the tears that he had tried to dry with his thumb. “And you’re a fucking idiot! You knew I was going there to break up with him and you thought I had sex with him! Why would you even say those things? Why? How stupid can you be?”

He took a sharp breath and opened his mouth, but she didn’t let him reply to any of her rhetoric questions.

“And you know what? I’m absolutely happy and fine that you’re in love with Marie! Happy and fine! I hope you have lots of children, and I hope you don’t invite me to your wedding. And I hope you go and live with her in Australia and move out of my flat because I don’t want you to live here anymore! I don’t want to see you anymore! I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore! Do you understand me?”

He opened his mouth, but closed it again, looking like a pathetic fish out of the water and probably waiting for her to go on screaming at him. His back was pressed against the wall of the kitchen and even though he was more than a foot taller than her, he looked like a dwarf compared to her. Lily just wanted to push him against the wall with so much force that he would disappear through it and never come back. Hugo looked abashed, miserable, and anxious to talk, but she didn’t want to let him talk. She didn’t want to hear his lies and excuses. She didn’t want to hear the sound of his voice ever again.

“And if you don’t move out of this flat,” she went on, her voice now frosty like the wind in a January night. “I’ll have my brothers throwing you out! Oh yes. I know what James did to you the night of the baby shower. I now know what it was that you kept from me. How dare you tell everybody that you liked me? You had no right to talk about me with the boys! You—I said don’t touch me!”

She anxiously stepped back, slapping away the hand he had dared stretch towards her arm.

Hugo’s bottom lip was trembling, and his eyes were shining – were those tears? His voice was a heart-breaking whisper when he murmured, “Lily, please, let me just explain—”

“I don’t care what you have to say! I wouldn’t believe a word you’d say anyway,” she cried, anxious not to let him swirl her in his net of lies and deceit.

“I didn’t have sex with Marie,” he murmured desperately. “I swear. I didn’t even—”

“You went upstairs with her! McLaggen saw you! You kissed her!” Oh God! Why was she letting him taking control of the conversation and of her emotions?

He tried to stretch his arm towards her again, but she took another step back and away from him, not wanting him to touch her.

“I kissed her,” he admitted softly. “I kissed her because I was drunk and angry and stupid and hurt, and I didn’t want to kiss her nor did I understand what I was doing.”

“Don’t lie to me!” she snarled, tears running down her cheeks again. “You screwed her!”

“I didn’t,” he replied quickly. “I swear to Merlin, I didn’t. Marie wasn’t drunk, and when she saw me there, downing glass after glass of Firewhisky like an alcoholic… When she saw me there, she just… She asked about you and… and I was so gone already and I told her you were with Derek and she just… She just kept badmouthing you for what you’ve done and… She… She took me upstairs. And we… I… I just—”

“I don’t want to hear what you did, Hugo!” she sobbed, sniffling loudly.

“I didn’t do—”

“They’re just lies!”

“They are not lies!” he said, his voice loud and desperate now. “I swear, Lily. I swear, you can go and ask your father for a vial of Veritaserum, and I’ll drink it gladly and tell you this all over again. These are not lies.”

Lily could barely see him through her tears, but she didn’t reply to him.

He swallowed before continuing, “Marie took me to one of the upstairs rooms. She had to drag me up the stairs, because I was already so fucking wasted… but I just… I kept…”

She rubbed her palm over her eyes to dry them. “You what?” she snapped.

“I kept calling her Lily,” he admitted in a whisper, “and then I… I just…” He looked at her, eyes serious and cheeks flushed. “I just threw up on her. Shit! I’m the worst drunk ever. I just threw up all over her expensive dress.” He swallowed gravely. “And she flipped out on me. God. I’ve never seen her that angry…”

Lily looked at him, lips parted in surprise, tears still rolling down her cheeks. “You’re lying!” she sobbed.

“I swear I’m not. You can Floo Call Marie and ask her. She hates me, too, now. You can probably start a little club where you meet up every Friday and hate on me over tea and biscuits,” he said softly. “James will be thrilled to join you too, and Al, and Vicky, and Dominique…”

Lily shook her head to try to clear it, but when he placed his hands on her arms and took a step towards her, she didn’t push him away.

“I was angry because you were late,” he admitted in a whisper, “and I got wasted to try to forget how much I hurt. I thought you didn’t care about me, I thought you’ve decided to stay with Derek that evening, instead of coming with me…”

“I was breaking up with him!” she reminded him, her voice whiny now, though.

“I know, I know,” he said, taking another step towards her. “Derek… he sent your portrait to the flat the following day, and I… I just went to his flat to take it back and tell him to send it to Grimmauld Place, instead.”

“You went to see him?” she asked, voice thick with disbelief. “But he didn’t send it to me.”

“No, he didn’t. He said that you can get it when you’re ready.” He swallowed. “He said that you couldn’t stop talking about me,” he whispered. “That you told him that you loved me, but that he had known all summer that you felt something for me.”

She felt her cheeks go up in flames. “I… I…”

“Lily, I love you, too,” he said desperately. “No, I don’t. Wait… I’m… I’m in love with you. What I feel for you, I’ve never felt for anybody else.”

She hiccupped a couple of sobs, and looked at him with her eyes filled with tears once again. “I’m in love with you too,” she sobbed.

“Lily, I need you to—”

“No, Hugo,” she cut him off. “I can’t get back with you. You don’t know how I felt when you said those things to me. You can’t even imagine how much I’ve hurt, because of what you said, because it was _you_ who said them.”

“I know,” he whispered, his warm thumbs drawing soothing circles on her arms. “I know. That’s why I _don’t_ want you to get back with me. Never again.”

She sobbed a couple more times and swallowed. “I’m sorry. I can’t, I’m just— _what_?” She was ready to keep explaining to him why she couldn’t get back to what they had before that night, she hadn’t expected him to agree with her just like that. “What do you mean?” Why wasn’t he begging and crying like she had pictured in her head?

“I can’t get back with you,” he repeated, his eyes the two saddest pools of blue she’d ever seen. “I can’t.”

“What? Why?” Why was she asking him? She had been the one to prepare a speech about it in her head. She was the one who didn’t want to get back with him. She had to remind herself that. “I mean… I’m the one who can’t get back with you. What did I do to you?”

“Nothing. Oh God! You didn’t do anything to me!” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, sniffling quietly as he did. “That night, you told me not to touch you,” he whispered. “And all I could think of was that if I kissed you I’d make it better again. That you’d melt in my arms like you did in the changing room.” He withdrew his hands from her arms and rubbed them all over his face. “I couldn’t stop myself. I just wanted to keep you there, to push you against the wall, to kiss you until you surrendered to me, and if I hadn’t been that wasted and slow, I might—”

“You wouldn’t have done it,” she whispered. Her hands flew to her mouth as soon as the words left her lips. What was wrong with her? Why was she defending him? Why was she defending him when he was accusing himself? She should have agreed with him.

He shook his head, keeping his eyes to the floor. “No,” he murmured. “If I hadn’t been that wasted, I might have done worse. I might have… I might have…” He turned away from her and leant his hands on the kitchen counter, arching his back and shaking his head. “I’m a fucking idiot. You’re the most precious thing in the world for me, and I lost you forever.” He tensed his back, his hands balling up into fists. “That night, I just wanted to make you cry, I just wanted to make you feel like I felt. I wanted you to beg for forgiveness just because you were late for a stupid party. I wanted to make you feel miserable.”

“I already did!” she protested weakly. “I thought you left me for Marie.”

He shook his head. “I could never, Lily,” he whispered, turning around to look at her, his cheeks wet with tears. “I didn’t want to lose you, and now I’ve lost you forever. You’re the only one I want, the only one I’ve ever wanted. And since I can’t have you, I might as well—”

“What?” She stepped closed to him and grabbed his shirt, fisting it under her fingers. “Don’t talk rubbish, Hugo Weasley!” Oh God, what was she doing? He was standing there, pale and abashed, staring down at her white hands balled on his chest and looking like a stray puppy. His own hands where at his sides, though, as if he didn’t want to touch her anymore now. As if he was afraid to anger her even more with his gestures.

But Lily’s rage was slowly dissipating, leaving room to fear. Fear of losing him forever. Fear of losing him without being able to control it. Why? Why? _Why_? She was confused. She should be happy that he agreed with her, but she was not. She was disappointed. She didn’t want him to stay away from her. She wanted him.

“You don’t understand,” he murmured, his eyes fixed on her small fingers. “You just don’t. I don’t want to hurt you. I need to stay away from you.” He shook his head. “You’re right. I need to move out of the flat and never come back.”

“Hugo…” she whispered his name in such a heart breaking way that she saw him stagger before her.

“I just wanted to see you one last time, to tell you that I was sorry, that I couldn’t—” He stopped and took a deep, jerky breath. “No, it’s not true. I wanted you; I wanted to try to make things better again. That’s why I wrote to Lavender. But now that I see you… I can’t. The thought that I’ve touched you when you told me not to…” He shook his head. “I just can’t bear it.”

She was still grasping his shirt; her hands were shaking now, though. “Hugo…”

He swallowed. “I’ll pack my stuff and get out of here before—”

“You can’t go to Australia!” she cried, tears coming to make her eyesight blurred once again. “You can’t!”

He took a deep breath and smiled softly at her. “I won’t, don’t worry,” he whispered. “But I’ll go to live with Rose while—”

“What do you mean you won’t?” she asked in disbelief. Did she really have all that power over him? That he would lose his job just to abide to her request of staying in England? “I thought you had a… a contract.”

He blinked as he finally looked at her. “Yeah, with… with Puddlemere?” he asked unsurely.

“No! With the Woollongong Warriors,” she replied. “Uncle Ron… He said…”

“What?” asked Hugo urgently. “What did he say?”

Lily cocked her head. What was happening? “That you had resigned from Puddlemere and the Warriors hired you through the Floo,” she replied quietly. “And that you were leaving for Australia. For six years.”

Hugo groaned and closed his eyes. “Oh God,” he muttered. “I’ll kill him.”

“You aren’t?” she asked in a whisper.

“No!” he replied. “How can a Quidditch team hire a player through the Floo anyway?”  

Lily felt her cheeks on fire. Oh, bloody hell! How embarrassing! She was going to kill Uncle Ron for tricking her, and she was going to kill him for making her believe and say stupid things.

“Why would my dad say those things?” he asked, shaking his head.

Lily’s face clouded over and she finally let his shirt go. “Because he wanted me to come here,” she replied. “And talk you out of it—talk to you. He wanted me to come here and talk to you.”

Hugo’s soft, hopeful smile had the power of bringing the butterflies that she had spent days trying to put to sleep come back to life. “You came here to talk me out of going to Australia?” he said, moved.

Lily shook her head, trying to wear her most severe expression. “No,” she lied. “I… I came to say goodbye.”

Hugo’s smile was still there as she looked back up at him. “You just asked me not to go,” he pointed out gently.

She must have turned crimson, now, because her cheeks were still on fire. “Well, Australia is far away,” she muttered. “And it’s hot, and you’re going to burst into flames if you go there. I just know. And it’s filled with poisonous spiders and—”

“Thank you,” he kindly interrupted her rant. “It means a lot to me.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll just move into Rose’s flat until Scorpius kicks me out and then I’ll find a place. Maybe in Dorset, close to River Piddle.”

Lily shook her head furiously. She suddenly didn’t want him to go anywhere, not even down the road from her. The shock that he would leave for Australia suddenly left room to the shock of understanding that, if he left, she would wake up all alone in that flat. That he would never come home again and wake her up with his kisses. That they would never chat and laugh on the sofa while they had dinner. That he would never worm his way in her bed after a fight. “No, please, you can’t go,” she whispered. Oh God, was she begging him? _Why was she begging him?_

“I have to, Lily,” he replied miserably.

She shook her head again as she took a step towards him, and then another. “You don’t have to,” she replied. “You don’t…”

“I can’t stay here with you,” he said, his voice becoming throaty as she got closer and closer to him.

“What if I want you to?” she asked softly.

He shook his head jerkily. “You don’t want me to,” he replied. “Not after what I’ve done to you.”

She swallowed and closed her eyes. She bent her head forward, until she was pressing her cheek against his chest. He stiffened, but she took a deep breath and inhaled his scent, so familiar and comforting. She slid her arms around his waist and grabbed the back of his shirt. “I’m sorry I was late for the ball,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I didn’t look at the time and that I upset you.”

“Oh, Lily…” His hands slid up her arms, caressing her warm skin under his digits with reverence. “I’m sorry I got angry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

She hummed in reply.

“I… I want you so much, it hurts,” he murmured, as his hands slipped on her shoulders and down her back, finally hugging her back against her chest. “I’m such a fucking idiot. I spent the last few days crying.”

“I did, too,” she breathed, unable to restrain herself. “I’ve never hurt like that.”

“I’ve never hurt like that either,” he replied, leaning his cheek over her head.

They stayed like that for minutes, hours, or probably days. Lily didn’t know. He felt so good, and it wasn’t just the fact that his warm, strong body was engulfing her in a comforting embrace. It was that this was Hugo. Not the Hugo from that night, but the Hugo she had known all her life. Sweet, gentle, caring: the real Hugo. Not the ugly copy brought to life by jealousy, and pain, and alcohol, and stupidity. Her stupidity and his stupidity. This was _her_ Hugo.

She tilted her head back and looked up at him, eyes wide as the realisation that she did want to be with him and only him hit her.

He smiled softly at her. “Lily, I’m so—”

She was sure he wanted to say that he was sorry, but she didn’t need to hear it again. She fisted his shirt once more and pulled him down towards her as she stood on tiptoes and pressed her lips against his, bringing his apology to an abrupt ending.

She kissed him forcefully, lips hungry, tongue searching, hands restless on his chest. And he kissed her back just as powerfully. Breathing didn’t seem at the top of their priorities at that moment, all she wanted – all _they_ wanted – was to be there, to kiss each other as if there was no tomorrow, as if their fight, their angry and hurtful words, their hurt, and their forced estrangement had somehow made them long to be with each other.

“I can’t,” said Hugo suddenly, jerking his head back. “I can’t. I’m going to—”

“Yes, you can,” said Lily desperately, trying to reach his lips again even though he resisted her. “Yes, you can, Hugo. You’re not going to hurt me.”

“I might hurt you, you don’t know what—”

“No, you’re not. I trust you.”

“You shouldn’t trust me,” he muttered. “You shouldn’t. I’m a fucking idiot. You’re the most precious thing in the world for me, and if I stay with you I’ll hurt you again.”

“You’ll hurt me more if you don’t stay with me. Please, Hugo,” she whispered, finally standing on tiptoes again and kissing him once more.

“Oh fuck, Lily. I love you,” he said between kisses. “I’ve missed… I’ve missed you…”

“Same,” she replied, fisting his shirt. “God, so much…”

He pulled her closer to him, still kissing her like a madman, like he needed to kiss her to survive, like he could kiss her all his life and live happily like that.

“Lily… God… I want you so much…” Hugo’s voice was desperate.

“I want you, too,” she murmured against his lips. “I want you, Hugo.”

He groaned softly at that; his hands tentatively ran down her back but stopped shy of the swell of her arse.

Then, suddenly, they were moving from the kitchen, taking slow steps towards the corridor. Hugo was walking backwards, bumping into walls and doorframes and not caring one bit about it, while Lily was pushing him forward.

“Here…” She stopped him as he walked past her door.

He smiled against her lips and turned her around until she was pressed against the door, her hand blindly searching for the handle. When she finally pushed the door open, they almost stumbled inside and over one of her discarded clothes. Still kissing, she pulled him to her, and back, back, back, until the back of her knees hit her bed and then they were falling on the soft mattress, with Hugo on top of her.

He slid his hands to her front as she pulled at his hair. His fingers skimmed over her breasts, down her ribs, over her tummy and on her legs, where her dress had ridden high on her thighs. She felt shivers run all over her, her skin cover in gooseflesh.

“I love this dress,” he whispered against her lips.

“I thought you didn’t like it,” she whispered back, moving her head back from his and looking into his eyes. “I thought you said I was a slag for wearing it.”

He had the decency of blushing at that, and then he lowered his head and kissed his way down her neck, making her groan. “I’m an idiot,” he whispered. “I’m the worst idiot in the world.”

“Yeah,” she replied, fingers threading affectionately in his hair, “but you’re my idiot.”

He let out a little groan at that, and then he tilted his head back, sitting back on his heels and looking down at her. “I’m going to love this dress even more when it’s on the floor,” he said, his eyes hooded with lust.

She bit her bottom lip, her chest heaving. She took a sharp breath before murmuring, “What you waiting for then?”

He groaned again, this time his eyes closed for a second as if he was already savouring the moment when she’d be lying naked underneath him. His hands lowered to her thighs again and then he slowly, gently, as if he was afraid to either hurt her or do something that she didn’t want him to do, ran his fingers under the hem of her dress and then up, up, up.

She propped herself on her elbows as she raised her bum from the mattress, helping him getting her undressed. His fingers skimmed impishly over the sides of her lacy green knickers, and then over her belly; he sighed lustfully when he noticed that her bra matched her knickers. Then she couldn’t see him anymore, because her vision was blocked by the dress he pushed over her face.

She smiled when her mouth was released of the fabric, but then he stopped undressing her and left the material there to cover her eyes. She felt him moving on top of her, until his clothed chest was pressed against her breasts.

He started kissing again, but there was something different now, something that felt wet. She kissed him back only barely, perking her ears up when she heard him sniffle. She blindly brought her hands to his face, brushing her fingers against his cheeks, finding them wet with his tears.

“Why are you crying?” she asked in a whisper.

He lowered his head and feathered kisses all over her face. “Because I can’t believe you’re here,” he whispered, his voice broken. “Because for a moment I thought I lost you completely, and it was all my fault.”

She guided him towards her mouth and kissed him again, softly, gently, reassuringly. “I’m here,” she murmured, kissing him over and over again. “I’m here, now, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

He finally moved the dress off her eyes and threw it on the floor. Then his mouth was on her, everywhere: her chest, over her bra, licking her navel, biting on her thigh. His hands were worrying on his own shirt buttons, frantically pulling at them to rid himself of that article of clothing.

“You’re so gorgeous,” he said as she helped him pushing the shirt off his shoulders. "So beautiful… What did I ever do to deserve you? I love you so much.”

She smiled as her hands went to the buttons of his trousers. It took them longer than it should have to push them down Hugo’s legs, both with hands shaking in anticipation and nervousness. Finally, he toed them off his ankles, throwing them to the floor, next to her dress and his shirt.

“God,” he breathed as he lay down once more on top of her.

She let out a giggle as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Eager?” she whispered, kissing him again.

“I feel like I could explode if we should stop,” he admitted, fisting the straps of her bra.

“We’re not going to—”

“Lily? Hugo? Is everything alright?”

They both stopped, Hugo rolling half off her, and turning to look at her door in horror. Lily let out a groan, covering her face with hands.

“Guys?” called her mother.

“Why is your mother here?” asked Hugo with a little groan of his own.

“Shit,” she muttered. “I told her to come and look for me if I wasn’t home in an hour.” She looked sheepishly at him. “I didn’t think she’d do it.”

There was a knock on the door. “Guys? Is everything alright?”

Lily jumped out of bed and grabbed the first thing she found, donning it quickly; she didn’t notice that it was Hugo’s shirt and that it reached her knees. She opened her door and peered outside at her mother’s face.

“Mum!” she muttered. “Everything’s fine, we’re just talking. Go back home!”

Her mother folded her arms across her chest and looked down at her outfit, cocking an eyebrow meaningfully. “You’re just talking?”

“Yes, we—”

“Hey, Auntie Ginny,” said Hugo, pushing the door open a bit more and standing there wearing nothing but his slips. “Everything’s fine.” He wrapped an arm around Lily’s shoulders. “We kissed and made up.”

Lily let out a little groan and elbowed him lightly, but he just smiled even more brightly at her mother.

Her mother looked from one to the other, eyebrow still cocked. “Kissed and made up?” she repeated.

Lily nodded, an embarrassed smile over her lips. “Yeah, like… we were just talking about that. Like right now, and… and we were just—”

“Changing into something more comfortable?” asked her mother, nodding towards Hugo’s shirt.

“Yes,” replied Hugo promptly. “And what’s more comfortable than your underwear?” His smile was absolutely terrified as he tried to be funny without managing one bit.

Her mother narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know,” she replied slowly. “Clothes?”

Hugo swallowed loudly. “I guess,” he mumbled.

Her mother’s nostrils flared dangerously. There was no doubt whatsoever that she knew what she had interrupted. She had to be stupid not to know. “You know that whatever you’ve been cooking is turned into coal, right? You were about to burn down your whole flat.”

“Oh shit!” exclaimed Hugo, eyes wide. “Sorry, Auntie. I meant… Oh, bother! I completely forgot.”

Her mother crossed her arms across her chest and looked severely from Lily to Hugo.

“Mum,” said Lily, mortified to have to endure her mother’s stare while standing there nearly naked next to the boy with whom she was cavorting in bed a few seconds before. “Thank you for saving us from a prospective fire, but I swear that you can go home, now. I’m fine, Hugo’s fine, we’re fine. Everything is perfectly fine…”

Her mother pursed her lips, looking dangerously like Grandma Molly when Uncle Charlie brought his latest conquest to the Burrow. “So, shall I assume that you’re staying here tonight?”

Lily looked at her and nodded. “Yeah,” she said throatily. “If that’s okay. Still need to talk a little bit more here, you know…”

“You don’t say,” she said flatly. Then she looked at Hugo. “So, you’re not leaving for Australia.”

“Oh, Mum!” snorted Lily. “As if you didn’t know! You tricked me. You and Uncle Ron!”

Her mother looked back at her, suddenly surprised. “Beg your pardon?”

“I’m not leaving for Australia,” said Hugo, smiling shyly. “I… I’m still playing for Puddlemere…”

Her mother’s jaw dropped. “What?” she exclaimed. “But your father said—”

“He tricked me like a child,” interjected Lily, pouting. “Just to make me come here.”

“How dared he!” said her mother, looking outraged.

Lily shrugged a shoulder meekly. “Well, it’s not that bad, after all, maybe I wouldn’t have—”

“He kept me in the dark? _Me_?” Her mother completely ignored Lily. “I am the one who should trick you, not him! And for a noble cause? He’s the insensitive git that scoffs about young love all the time!”

“Mum!”

“If it makes you feel any better, Auntie, I think he did it because he couldn’t take my crying and moping about their house anymore,” said Hugo shyly. “He even tried to set me up with a girl, but when it didn’t work out, he—”

“Excuse me,” interjected Lily, looking at him sternly. “Who?”

Hugo shook his head. “I don’t even know, it was a blind date and I refused to go.”

“Well, I don’t care,” replied her mother. “He’s going to hear me! Lying like that! To me! His own sister! He better gets ready for what’s coming to him.”

Lily glanced up at Hugo as he looked down at her. “Bat-Bogey Hex,” they whispered at the same time, nodding knowingly.

“Anyway,” her mother went on. “I’m going to go now, but we’re going to talk soon, am I clear?”

“Yes, Mum.”

“Yes, Auntie Ginny.”

“Good,” she said before adding, “You can keep kissing and making up.” Then she turned away from them and went back to the living room.

Lily’s cheeks went up in flames. “We’re not—”

“Thank you, Auntie,” called Hugo as her mother disappeared into the kitchen. “You’re the best.”

They stood there until her steps faded away and then the swoosh of the Floo confirmed the fact that she was gone.

“Oh God,” moaned Lily, covering her face with both hands. “That was not embarrassing at all.”

Hugo just chuckled, and then, all of a sudden, he slid his arms under her knees and back and carried her back to her bed.

“Hey!” she gasped in surprise, her arms grasping his neck.

He laid her down on the bed and then lay next to her. “Now, where were we?” he murmured as he started kissing her again, his hands going to her shoulders to tear the shirt off her. “Why are you dressed again?” he groaned. “I thought we were down to your underwear already.”

She giggled as she rose a little from the bed, helping him to get her undressed once more. “Because I couldn’t well talk to my mum in my underwear.”

“Why not? She knew perfectly well what we were doing.”

“Oh God, shut up,” she groaned, cupping his cheeks and kissing him to silence.

He chuckled against her lips and moved his hands over her back, following the straps of her bra down to the clasp. He fiddled with it without much conviction for a little, then he tilted his head back and looked down at her with eyes wide and serious. “Are you sure?” he asked suddenly. “I mean this… Are you sure about this? We don’t have to go all the way if you’d rather not.”

She hummed in reply. “We’ve already done it anyway, haven’t we?”

He shook his head slightly. “We’ve had sex, we’ve never made love,” he whispered.

She gave him a small smile. “Speak for yourself,” she whispered back.

He let out a tiny groan and dove for another kiss, and his nimble fingers unclasped her bra in seconds. He kept kissing her, while his fingers pushed her bra down her arms, over the sides of her breasts, and then he finally threw it to the floor.

He didn’t stop kissing her to look down at her naked chest. He didn’t palm her breasts almost painfully like other people had done before him. His lips left hers though, and he trailed kisses down her jaw, her neck, her collarbone, until he was biting gently, licking and suckling all over her breasts, taking his time to explore them.

“Oh shit,” he murmured as he took a nipple into his mouth.

“What?” she breathed, arching her chest as something tightened in her stomach.

“You’ve got the most gorgeous breasts I’ve ever seen,” he murmured, tugging lightly at the nipple.

She couldn’t help giggling at that.

“I’m serious,” he said, kissing his way to the other one. “White and soft, and you have the most beautiful nipples in the world.”  

“Hugo,” she giggled, threading her fingers in his hair. “Stop it! You’re making me blush.”

He let her breast go with a pop and pushed himself up to kiss her lips again. “Good, I love when you’re blushing,” he said, as his fingers skimmed down her sides, “and when you’re laughing, and when you’re angry, and when you’re happy, and—”

“I love you, too,” she cut him off, her own fingers going to his underwear. “I want you, Hugo.”

“God, me too,” he said, pushing his pelvis against her to let her feel just how much he wanted her.

“Good,” she said as she let him hook his fingers in her knickers and push them down. She fumbled with his underwear too, until she could feel his cock bump against her thigh, warm and hard.

He was frantic in the way he tore the knickers from her legs, crazy with need as he finally kicked off his own slips and positioned himself between her legs. He looked at her and then lowered his head to kiss her once more as he guided himself against her clit.

She groaned, feeling electricity spread in her lower abdomen; she slid her fingers up his sides, grasping his waist as her head fell back on the pillow and she gasped. He kissed her neck and, for a moment, she felt as if he was going to pause and ask her again if she was sure about it. He didn’t, he just guided himself towards her and then she could feel the bulbous head pushing past her lips.

She arched her back, pushing against him as he thrust inside of her. They both let out a groan. His was deep and almost animalistic, hers breathy and high-pitched. Then his hands were grasping her hips, and he arched his back as he drove into her fully. He was slow at first, and she could feel every ridge and every curve of his cock, pushing deliberately into her and then agonisingly slow pulling out of her.

“You’re so tight,” he groaned. “Fuck. So unbelievably tight.”

He picked up his pace then, unable to stop himself, driving faster and with single-minded purpose inside of her. She was gasping now, her stomach tight with the build-up of her orgasm, her fingers grasping the messy sheets underneath their sweaty bodies, her eyes unfocused with lust.

Hugo was staring at where their bodies were joined, transfixed, breathing hard, his cheeks flushed, his red curls in his eyes. “Shit, shit, shit,” he chanted, placing one hand on the mattress near her hip and finding her clit with the other one. He started to circle it with sure and secure strokes even in his dazzled state.

“Oh fuck,” she mumbled, arching her shoulders forward to look at his hand disappearing between them. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

He was grunting incoherently, his pelvis snapping forward without much grace now, slamming almost painfully against her.

Lily’s body was a tight ball of nerves, everything tingled, every muscle was tense, every movement was sending her in an overload of sensations, and the more Hugo moved against her, the closer she was to tumble over the edge.

She knew the exact moment when Hugo came because he shouted incoherently and fell forward, half-squishing her as he kissed her again and panted against her lips.

It took her only a second longer to join him. All she needed was Hugo as he kept working her clit steadily, and his warm, hard body covering her. When she came, he swallowed the loud groan that left her throat and she suddenly felt crushed and sheltered and loved. She spasmed around him, forcing the filthiest words out of his mouth. She couldn’t help grinning dazedly, and enlaced her fingers with his. He didn’t stop kissing her, giving occasional thrusts with his pelvis as he emptied completely inside of her.

“Shit,” he murmured against her mouth. “That was… that was…”

“Good?” breathed Lily, trailing kissing over his flushed cheeks.

“Good?” he asked, tilting his head back to look down at her incredulously.

She bit her bottom lip. “Bad?” she asked anxiously.

“Bad? Are you out of your mind? I meant that good doesn’t cover it. This was… _amazing_ ,” he murmured. “Fucking amazing. Fucking awesome. Fucking fantastic…”

She giggled as he slipped out of her and lay down at her side, turning to hug her to his chest. She turned too, pressing herself against him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “It was,” she admitted.

He lowered his head and kissed her lips gently, then he started to slide slowly down the bed, kissing his way to her chest, her breasts, her navel. “And I’m not done with you,” he murmured against her tummy.

Lily’s head fell back against her pillow. “Hugo!” she breathed.

He pushed her back and grasped the back of her thighs, bringing them up until she was folded into two. “I’m going to eat you out until you’ve come so many times that you won’t even remember your name.”

She looked down at him, eyes wide as he lowered his head against her oversensitive folds and started to lap at her as if he was a starving a man and she the sweetest of desserts.

***

It was probably midday – she could vaguely guess it by the light that filtered through the curtains – when Lily opened her eyes again.

Hugo’s hands were possessively cupping her breasts and stomach, while his chest was pressed against her back, his muscles pushing insistently against her shoulder blades.

They had gone to sleep at Merlin only knew what time, after having made love all night. When they had been hungry – for food – they hadn’t even moved from the bed, Hugo had Summoned some junk food to her bedroom and then they had covered each other with ice-cream and licked it off their bodies. They had memorised every inch of their skin, counted each other’s freckles until they concluded that there were too many, and had sex until Hugo agreed that he was more tired than when he trained all day.

Then they had fallen asleep, so close one to the other that they couldn’t tell whose those freckles or that lock of hair belonged to. He squeezed her as if he was afraid that she would disappear through the night and she hugged him as if she thought he was just a dream.

He most certainly wasn’t, though.

Hugo hummed sleepily and pushed his nose into her hair. “You awake?” he asked, kissing her under her ear.

“Awake,” she replied drowsily. “Why? What did you have in mind?” Her hand trailed up his arm, until her fingers were caressing his hair. “Some morning sex, coffee, a shared shower, and more sex?”

“Hmm,” he sighed. “Tempting, but I hardly think it counts as morning sex if it’s two in the afternoon.”

Lily giggled as she turned in his arms and tucked some unruly curls behind his ear. “Do you want to dot the i’s and cross the t’s or do you want sex?”

He smiled sleepily at her. “I want to talk,” he said.

Lily furrowed her brow. “Talk?” she said. “We’ve got all life to talk.” She lowered her head and planted a kiss on his chest. “Let’s have sex…”

“We’ve got all life to have sex,” he replied, cupping her cheeks to bring her up to him again. “But we need to talk now.”

She sighed and smiled; she rolled over until she was lying on her stomach and hugged the pillow to her chest. She turned to look at him. “What do you want to talk about?” she asked with a yawn. “The price of caldrons? Rufus and the moment he’ll want to walk on the roofs around here? Grandma’s amazing Sunday dinner?”

“I want to talk about us,” he said seriously. “I want you to be my girlfriend.”

She cocked her head, studying his serious expression as his blue eyes bore into hers. He had his lips pressed tightly together as if he was waiting for her to agree or disagree on that, and he looked quite worried.

“Well, after last night,” she giggled, “I thought I already was your girlfriend.”

He shook his head. “No, I want you to be my girlfriend, my _actual_ girlfriend. I want everybody to know, our parents, our family, our friends. I want you to come with me to Quidditch events, I want you to come and see me play, I want people to take pictures of us kissing, I want to go travel with you, I want to know that everybody knows that you’re mine and I’m yours, and I especially don’t want anybody to flirt with you.”

She looked at him, at how his face seemed serious and grave, as if he was afraid that she could have said that she didn’t want any of that. If he did, it meant that he didn’t understand anything.

“I want that, too,” she said softly before poking his chest. “And I don’t want any girl flirting with you either, Mr Weasley. If Marie gets that close to you, I swear that I’ll hex her arse.”

He smiled, visibly pleased with her jealousy. “Cool,” he replied. “How many people do you think we have to break the news to?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I think our family knows already,” she replied before looking pointedly at him. “Our cousins especially, apparently.”

“Oh God,” he mumbled, closing his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Lily. I didn’t tell them what we did, I swear. But Fred was talking about that girl he was going out with at the time and they were teasing me about Marie, and I just—”

“Did you really call me the most gorgeous creature that has ever walked this earth?” she asked softly.

“Yeah,” he replied with a soft smile.

“In front of my brothers?”

“Yeah.” He blushed profoundly.

“And did James really beat you up when you told him that you were in love with me?” she asked in a whisper, her fingers caressing where he had sported the bruises.

“Yeah,” he whispered back.

“Why didn’t you react?”

He leant in her touch. “Who says I didn’t react?” he asked, puffing out his chest.

“Because you wouldn’t have looked that bad if you did,” she said matter-of-factly.

He took a deep breath, as if he was about to explain something rather difficult. “He’s my cousin…”

“You’re his cousin, too,” she pointed out, even though she knew that James had just pulled his protective big brother act.

He smiled meekly at her. “Yeah, but I’m not the brother of the girl he’s madly in love with,” he whispered.

She looked at him with eyes wide. “You didn’t fight back because you’re in love with me and he’s my brother?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” he replied softly. “Is that stupid?”

She couldn’t help smiling at him. “It’s romantic,” she said. “Does that mean that I’ll have to protect you from James next time we see him?”

“I think I’ll be alright if we tell him that my intentions are serious and honourable,” he grinned. “And that you are completely and utterly head over heels in love with me…”

“Oh, that’s what we should tell him?” she laughed.

“And that I’m completely barmy for you,” he whispered. “That I should be checked for a concussion because every time you’re near me I can’t seem able to think straight anymore.”

She got closer to him, until she could brush her nose against his. “The feeling is mutual,” she whispered. She kissed him gently before tilting her head back, her hand sneaked over his neck to play with his curls.

“So our family knows,” she went on. “Everybody does—like, that’s not going to be an embarrassing Sunday dinner next week—and what about our friends?”

“McLaggen knows,” he admitted.

“And so does Derek,” she replied.

“Yeah, before you did, apparently,” he chuckled.

“Hey! He’s an artist! He’s sensitive… He can feel these things…”

“I know,” he replied way too solemnly to be serious. “And Marie knows, too… I mean, she knows that I’m in love with you. And she hates me now, so… yeah, that’s going to be a pleasant season ahead of me.”

“I need to beg my dad to send her to Azkaban for her unforgivable crimes,” sighed Lily. “She did dare to drug his little princess, after all.”

“I agree,” said Hugo. “What about the rest of the world, though?”

“What about them?” asked Lily.

“Well, I was thinking that I could ask your mum to change the article on me a little. You know, the one that she’s going to publish this week… I told her ‘no comment’ when she asked me about my love life…”

“What?” she asked, eyes wide. “You want to put it on the Prophet? Already?”

“No, no! Not put it on the Prophet,” he assured her. “I meant that I could just say that I’m seeing someone, so that I can be left alone by whatever crazy Puddlemere fan might slip past security and find her way to the changing rooms after a match.”

“I don’t think crazy Quidditch fans care what your relationship status is,” pointed out Lily. “If they want you, they’re going to flirt with you until you give in, or worse send you chocolates filled with love potions, like it happens to my dad every other week, or kidnap you.”

“Alright,” he admitted. “But we can ask your mother to write it anyway, just so that any normal Quidditch fan will know that I’m not available.”  

She smiled at him. “Alright,” she replied. “Sounds good. Oh, bloody hell, I’m actually excited about it. Shall we Floo Call my mum?” She propped herself up and tried to stand up, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

“Hmm… in a moment,” he whispered, starting to kiss her again. “Someone was talking about morning sex if I’m not wrong…”

“And someone was saying that it’s two in the afternoon…”

“Afternoon sex, then… So good, the best kind of sex… Just like morning sex, evening sex, night sex…”

She giggled as she pressed herself against him. “I love you, Hugo,” she whispered.

“I love you, too, Lily,” he whispered back.

***

In the end, they didn’t Floo Call her mother for another few hours. They first had sex, then some sort of meal that they had no idea how to call at four in the afternoon, then they took a shower together, then another one, because the first one had been _that_ fun, then they finally found something to wear and Floo Called her.

She arrived in their living room with a quill and Hugo’s interview in one hand and a Kneazle in the other.

“Hi, Mum! Oh, you brought Rufus. Thank you!” Lily crouched on the floor to scoop him up in her arms and he graciously let her rub her belly.

“Yes,” she replied, sitting on the armchair. “I figured you were missing him.”

“Oh yeah, yeah…”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Did you even remember you had a Kneazle?” she asked flatly as she walked to the armchair and sat down.

“Of course!” protested Lily weakly. “We… we remembered…”

“I didn’t,” piped in Hugo, as he walked into the living room in just a pair of shorts. “It was heaven here without that little troublemaker.”

Lily narrowed her eyes while Hugo went to sit opposite to her mother. “Is that why you brought him to Grimmauld Place? He didn’t miss me; you just didn’t want him around.”

“No, no, he missed you,” he said promptly. “He even meowed your name a couple of times, I’m sure about that.”

“Wasn’t that you crying?” she asked with a little grin.

He stuck out his tongue at her, and she giggled.

“So,” said her mother loudly, interrupting their exchange. “Everything’s fine between the two of you?”

Lily nodded as she went to sit next to Hugo. She had a huge smile plastered on her face as he wrapped an arm about her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. “More than fine,” she giggled.

“Marvellous,” he agreed.

“Good,” her mother replied stiffly. “And what does that mean exactly?”

“Well, you know, Mum…”

“We’re kind of…”

“We’re definitely.”

“Yeah, we are,” grinned Hugo.

“You’re definitely what?” grumbled her mother. “Unable to finish a sentence?”

“Muuum!” protested Lily. Her mother surely knew what they meant, but she had to make them say it, didn’t she? She was that mean.

“We’re together,” whispered Lily, feeling her cheeks on fire. “Like, you know…”

“Like in love,” added Hugo softly. “Like I really love her, Auntie Ginny.”

“And I love him,” whispered Lily back. She could feel his hand on the small of her back drawing gentle circles with his fingers as if to let her know that he was there with her.

Her mother nodded slowly. “So, you’re together-together,” she said. “The kind of together that will have Uncle Harry pumping you, Hugo, over dinner about your intentions with his little princess?”

Hugo swallowed loudly. “I guess,” he whispered meekly.

“And the kind of together that will have Uncle Ron taking you two aside and giving you his famous and astonishingly embarrassing sexual health lesson?”

“Oh God,” groaned Hugo.

“Muuum…”

“I’m just making sure that you know what you’re embarking on, Lily,” she replied calmly. “You have quite the family, you know?”

“We know,” replied Lily gruffly. “But we’re ready.”

“Hold that thought until Uncle Charlie comes back from Romania,” said her mother matter-of-factly. “Anyway, I can’t say that it comes as a surprise to me. But now that that’s settled, may I ask why I’m here with my interview that needs to go to into printing in less than half-an-hour then?”

“You’re here for a very noble reason,” Lily assured her. “We need to save Hugo an inordinately amount of flirting from all those not-so-crazy Quidditch fans.” She sighed. “Don’t bother with the crazy ones, there’s no hope for them.”

“What are you even talking about, Lily?”

“You need to change my answer to my love-life question, Auntie,” said Hugo. “The one in your interview. We want everybody to know that I’m not available to anybody at all except for Lily.”

Her mother furrowed her brow. “What?” she asked. “Hugo, everybody always says no comment to that. It’s for their privacy.”

“Yes, yes, we know,” he hurried to say, “and we don’t want to write anything private, just that I’m in a stable relationship with a young lady that has stolen my heart?”

Lily looked at him and she was sure that she was wearing the dumbest smile over her face. “Aww, Hugo.”

He smiled back at her, just as dumbly, and, for a moment, everything around them vanished and they got lost in each other’s eyes; that was until her mother cleared her throat rather unceremoniously.

She straightened her back and skimmed Hugo’s interview to reach the part she had to rectify. “How would you like me to describe Lily?” she asked, dunking her quill into an inkbottle precariously placed on the armrest. “As a lovely, pocket-size young lady with a pretty smile and an addiction to buying clothes?”

“Pocket-size! Muuum!” protested Lily. “And don’t forget the part where I steal his heart, anyway.”

“Beautiful,” said Hugo breathily. “Beautiful and intelligent. Smart and funny and kind-hearted and—”

“Hugo, the interview is about your performance during the trials and what you expect from your future career,” pointed out her mother. “It’s not an elegy to Lily.”

Hugo blushed crimson and smiled awkwardly under his aunt’s steady gaze.

“Oh Mum! You’re so unromantic!” sighed Lily. She snuggled closer to Hugo to show him that she appreciated the effort and leant her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently.

Her mother just sighed. “Alright,” she conceded. “I’ll write beautiful and smart young lady… that you’ve known all your life… and that has stolen your heart.” She tapped a full stop on the page and let them know that she wouldn’t add anything else to her very professional piece. “Is that all?” she asked, corking her inkbottle once more and putting everything away.

“I guess so,” said Lily. “I can’t think of anything else…”

“Me neither,” agreed Hugo.

“Good,” said her mother. “Now, let’s talk about some practicalities: when are you two coming over to dinner at Grimmauld Place?”

Lily furrowed her brow as she looked at her mother. “We’ve just been, Mum,” she pointed out. “Right before Hugo’s trials, remember?”

“I do remember,” she replied calmly. “But do you seriously think that your father and I aren’t looking forward to embarrassing you two with questions about your relationship and your sex life?”

“Muuum!” groaned Lily. “No, please.” She felt herself blush, and Hugo stiffened next to her.

“It’s going to be good practice for when Uncle Ron does that in front of everybody at the Burrow, too,” she pointed out. “You should thank us.”

Lily turned towards Hugo and hid her face in his chest. “I hate your family,” she mumbled against his skin.

“Likewise,” he murmured back.

Her mother let out a little amused snort. “So, we’ll be expecting you two at seven o’clock tomorrow night,” she said. “Don’t be late; otherwise we’re going to know what you were doing…”

“Mum! Please, stop,” whined Lily, not turning to look at her.

Her mother laughed. “I’m going to have so much fun with this,” she said happily, standing from the armchair and gathering all her things. “I’m off to the Prophet, now. See you tomorrow, alright?”

“Wait!” Lily stood up, too, and hurried to her mother, hugging her tightly. “Thank you, Mum,” she murmured.

Her mother squeezed her back. “No problem, Lily,” she said gently.

Hugo stood from the sofa and went to hug her, too. “Thank you, Auntie Ginny,” he whispered.

The group hug went on for long minutes, until her mother told them that she really had to go and drop off the interviews for the special edition of the Prophet. Therefore, they finally let her go, waved goodbye and looked as she disappeared amongst green flames.

The moment she was gone, Hugo sat back on the sofa and Lily joined him, sitting on his lap and starting to kiss him gently. “Our family is going to be a pain, aren’t they?” she asked softly against his lips.

He sighed as he hugged her to his chest. “They are,” he admitted. “My dad is going to pester us about Contraceptive Charms and Potions, and about sleeping together before marriage, living together before marriage, holding hands in public places—”

“Oh God,” whispered Lily as she leant her head on his shoulder. “Maybe we should tell him that we’re both moving to Australia…”

Hugo chuckled heartily at that. “Or we could tell him that your parents are way more open minded than he is. That will make him shut up.”

She giggled at that and planted another kiss on his lips. “My parents are cousins, by the way,” she said calmly. “Did you know?”

He tilted his head back and looked at her with an eyebrow cocked. “What? No, they aren’t.”

She nodded cheerfully. “Third cousins, but in some countries it’s illegal to marry up to your third cousin,” she said. “My mum thought it was hilarious, but she said that your dad was rather shocked by the news when he found out.”

Hugo looked at her with eyes wide, trying to decide if she was having him on or not, apparently.

“I solemnly swear that I’m not lying,” she solemnly said.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered. “That’s hilarious.” He burst into laughter as if that was the most hysterical thing he’s heard in all this life. “I would have wanted to see my dad’s face when he found out!”

Lily couldn’t help laughing too at the notion. Uncle Ron’s upset face must have been quite the sight.

Then his laugh died away as suddenly as it had started. He looked down at her with tenderness and smiled as he lowered his head to kiss her. “I love you,” he whispered gently.

“I love you, too,” she replied quietly, giving him what she hoped it was a toe-curling kiss. “Bed?” she murmured against his lips.

“Bed,” he agreed promptly.

***

That first Sunday at the Burrow had been much nicer than both of them had anticipated. Everybody had been very supportive of this new love-story blossomed in the heart of the family, and Grandma Molly had even started crying happy tears when Lily and Hugo had assured her that they loved each other and that they would never fight as harshly as they did this past week.

Rose had hugged both of them, and everybody had just told them how happy they were that the two of them had returned to being friends – and more – once again. James had shaken Hugo’s hand a bit stiffly, and then Hugo had told Lily that her older brother had cornered him in the toilet and had even apologised for hitting him. Then he had promised to hit Hugo again, if he made Lily suffer, and Lily had just shaken her head and rolled her eyes. After all, though, she thought it was sweet that her brother would worry about her.

Uncle Ron had really taken them aside and started lecturing them about Contraceptive Potions and Spells. And Lily and Hugo had blushed so much that Uncle George had joked that steam was about to come out their ears. Victoire had asked them a good a hundred times if it was true that they were together now; and she looked torn between being surprised beyond reason and incredibly happy.

Molly had tried to understand what they would become for their family members once they got married. “So, like, when you tie the knot—”

“Molly!” screeched Aunt Hermione.

“Oh my God! Do you think that’s something you should ask?” asked Roxanne, eyes wide.

“They just got together,” said Dominique.

“I get it,” huffed Molly. “I was just trying to understand what they and their children—mnph!”

“Shh,” Albus shushed her with a hand over her mouth. “Don’t talk about my sister’s children.”

Overall, it had gone well.

Too well.

Naturally, the real bantering was still to come, and it wasn’t surprising in the least that it would come from Fred.

“Oh, my God! Get a room, you two!”

Lily raised her eyes from the cards she was holding in her hands, curious to see who amongst her cousins and brothers had the nerve to probably smooch their better half in front of everybody in the living room of the Burrow and had caused Fred to bellow at them so loudly and theatrically.

She was rather surprised, and very annoyed, to find that all eyes were riveted on her instead.

“What?” she asked without understanding.

“You and Hugo,” said Fred, causing Hugo to look up from his cards as well with a jerky movement and finally noticing that people were looking at him, too. “Get a freaking room if you have to do _that_.”

“If we have to do what?” asked Hugo, looking from Fred to the others, his voice high-pitched as he probably anticipated some very embarrassing discussion.

“That,” repeated Fred, cocking a knowing eyebrow as he nodded towards them.

Lily looked at him with eyes wide with disbelief. “We’re playing Exploding Snap,” she pointed out. “We’re not even touching each other.” She placed her cards face down on the carpet and glared at cousin. “Hugo is sitting on the armchair, and I’m sitting on the floor,” she pointed out. “At least three feet from one other. What are we even doing?”

“You’re sexing each other with your eyes,” said Fred smugly. “I saw you two.”

Lily’s jaw dropped. “We aren’t!” she replied outraged. “We’ve barely looked at each other for the whole game!”

“Then you do it without even noticing,” he said. “You’re battling your eyelashes at him and he’s smiling like an idiot every time he looks at you.”

Lily glanced at a very flushed Hugo and this time it was her the one who smiled like an idiot.

“See? Now _you_ are doing it, Lily. Get a room already.”

“Are you out of your freaking mind, Fred?” growled James, coming to stand in front of him and gesticulating madly. “Suggest that my sister and her… _boyfriend_ disappear into some room once again and I swear I’ll hex your arse!”

“Hey, you can’t hex my brother’s arse,” piped in Roxanne, going to stand between the two and poking James in the chest with a manicured finger. “I am the only one who can hex him.”

James sniffed at her. “I’m going to hex anybody who suggests that my sister should get a room with her… _boyfriend_.”

“Oh, get over it, James,” snapped Dominique. “She’s eighteen.”

“So?” asked Albus. “She’s still a baby.”

“A baby? You’re a baby!” exclaimed Rose.

“No, you’re a baby!”

“You are!”

“No, you are.”

“No, you—”

“Let’s get out of here, please,” whispered Hugo as he grabbed Lily’s upper and helped her to her feet; the game completely forgotten and the fight that broke out amongst their cousins and siblings the perfect excuse to slide away without being seen.

They didn’t get a room as Fred had suggested they did, but they slid out of the main door and found themselves onto the porch, where the noise of the rain was strong and the September wind was cold.

Hugo pulled her to him and hugged her gently, warming her up as he leant his head on top of hers. “You alright?” he asked in her hair.

“Hmm,” she said. “Now that you took me away from that bedlam, I’m wonderful.” She sighed contently as she hugged him back. “Do you think this is a safe place where we can snog for a bit, or do we have to wait until we’re back at home?"

“I don’t think I can wait until we’re back at home to snog you,” confessed Hugo.

She tilted her head back and grinned at him, then she closed her eyes and stood on tiptoes as she pursed her lips; the butterflies took off in her stomach as she thought about his kiss.

“Well? Is that how it’s going to be now?”

Lily’s butterflies dissolved in her stomach as the familiar voice of Uncle Charlie interrupted them. Both she and Hugo took a deep breath before turning to look at him.

“Uncle Charlie!” exclaimed Lily, trying unsuccessfully to hide her disappointment for having been interrupted. “When did you arrive?”

“Right now,” he said calmly. “I came as soon as Uncle Ron wrote to me. He said he needed me to check on Hugo’s new girlfriend and scare Lily’s boyfriend the way I scared Harry when he first started dating Ginny.”

“Scare him? Oh God,” groaned Hugo. “What did you do?”

“Whatever it was it didn’t work that well,” replied Lily smugly. “They got married and had three children.”

“Yes, but the two of them didn’t have sex for two years after I talked to your father,” replied Uncle Charlie even more smugly.

“Bugger,” muttered Lily.

“Lily! Language!” chastised her mother from a window.

“Oh, there you are,” said James, opening the door and looking at them with a severe face that was covered in magical pimples. “I checked every room to find you!”

“Will you leave them alone?” asked Victoire, peering outside from behind James and with Remus sat on her hip. “Can’t they even snog in peace?”

“They weren’t snogging, I was keeping an eye on them,” Uncle Charlie pointed out proudly.

When their cousins noticed that Uncle Charlie was there, it was all an, “Uncle Charlie!” and “When did you arrive?” and “Have you had the talk with them yet?” and “Did you scare Hugo alright?” as they all crowded around him.

“Let’s go home,” whispered Hugo, as he pulled Lily to him once more. “Before they interrupt us again.”

She stood on tiptoes and pecked his lips quickly. “Only if you promise to Lock the Floo and Ward the place,” she whispered.

“Are you getting ideas for tonight?” he asked with a naughty smile on his lips.

“Maybe,” she replied, smiling back just as impishly. “Why? Are you interested?”

“Temptress,” he whispered. Then he hugged her again and without even asking permission, he Disapparated the two of them from the Burrow.

***

Lily was well aware of the fact that she was not being professional at all. That was her first task as an assistant Quidditch correspondent and she definitely knew that at no point during her interview she should be squished between the muscular body of her boyfriend and the bench in the Puddlemere United empty changing room. She should have been sitting properly in the pressroom, with her questions ready, her notebook opened on the right page as the quill took notes for her, and she nodded interested and remarked how well he had played and how crucial his role had been to win the match against the Tornados.

Instead, she was moaning and crying and the bench was squeaking so loudly that she was glad Hugo had performed a Silencing Charm and a very solid Locking Spell before he grabbed her and Vanished her knickers.

He grunted and groaned her name as he drove wildly into her, his fingertips surely leaving bruises on her hips. When he finally came, he arched his back and chanted her name as if it was a prayer.

And then she was coming, too, and she was just as loud and as lost in the sensations as he was.

Before she could even come down from her orgasm, he gathered her up to his chest, turned them around, and sat heavily on the bench as if that quickie had exhausted him more than the two-hour match he had just played.

“Where were we?” he panted, as he hugged her tightly.

She looked over his shoulder and at her questions that had ended up on the floor. “What were you thinking when you hit that last Bludger and threw the Tornados Seeker off his broom?” she breathed in his ear.

“You,” he said, kissing her neck. “Always you, you know that… Next?”

“And you know I can’t write that,” she reminded him.

“Then write some fancy philosophical answer,” he whispered, pushing the straps of her dress off her shoulder. “I trust you.”

She tilted her head back as he tried to kiss her again, and she covered his mouth with her palm. “You’re not helping,” she pointed out with a pout. “My first real interview and you’re not helping. I should be mad at you.”

He grinned behind her hand. “Sorry,” he mumbled as she moved her palm away. “Why don’t we do this: we get dressed, get ourselves to the pressroom, do a serious, badass interview that will have all the other players and journalists enviously reading the piece tomorrow morning, and then go back home and have sex until we fall asleep?”

She pursed her lips. “What about dinner? I’m starving, Mr Weasley.”

“Hmm… I wanted to have _you_ for dinner,” he breathed, trailing kisses all over her shoulders.

She tilted her head back to let him kiss her neck again. That felt so good; her butterflies agreed instantaneously. “Despite the fact that this sounds very inviting, shall I lecture you about the importance of eating real food? Especially after a match.”

“You shall not, thank you very much,” he whispered as he trailed kisses down her chest. “I’ll take you to Le Gavroche the moment we get out of here.”

“That’s way too expensive,” she pointed out.

“So? I’m a rich Quidditch star,” he grinned and ran his hands up her back.

She cocked her head. “And humble, apparently.”

“And I’ve got the most beautiful girlfriend ever,” he said sweetly, kissing her again. “I want to show her off to all those incredulous Muggles.”

She smiled against his lips. “Alright,” she conceded. “Just because I want to show you off, too.”

“And I’m going to have you for dessert, later tonight,” he added naughtily. “That’s a huge saving.”

“I still want their chocolate crème brûlée, though.”

He smiled and kissed her once more, then she stood from his lap. She straightened her clothes and he finally dressed, quickly towelling off his still wet curls before locking his cupboard. He turned around, wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she stuffed the Invisibility Cloak into her bag; he undid the spells he had placed on the room.

They walked out of the changing room and towards the pressroom, stopping every three steps to kiss, whisper something, laugh, chat excited about their upcoming evening and smile dumbly at one other.

Lily slid her arms around his waist and looked up at him. “I love you, Hugo Weasley,” she whispered.

“Good, because I love you, Lily Luna Potter,” he whispered back, lowering his head to kiss her once more.

And as she stood there, with Hugo’s arms caging her tightly and his soft lips against her own, Lily knew that he really loved her and she knew that she loved him, too.

And right then and there, it was the only thing that mattered to her.

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all… AH! I can’t believe so many people commented on Hugo leaving for Australia! I mean, guys, come on! An interview via the Floo? ;) Uncle Ron for the win! 
> 
> Second, this story is over, but before the end of May I’ll post the one-shot sequel that our lucky commenter number 150, Kelly, prompted me with. She wants the prompt to be a surprise for you guys, but I think I can safely spoil the title for you all: _Lily Luna Potter’s Best Birthday Ever_. It takes place seven years into the future and it’s going to be fun, fluffy, romantic, angsty, and everything else we want/need in our Lugo. By the way, we even reached comment 200, but I don’t have the time to promise another sequel right now. Maybe in the future, though… Stay tuned, alright? (I’m moving to London from Italy on May 31, and will need to settle in my new life before I focus on fandom once again.)
> 
> Third, (even though this is not Lugo-related). Last year, I offered my services on FandomAid on Livejournal to write a one-shot about any het pairing for 20$. I didn’t expect anybody to buy it, but it was actually bought straight away – making me feel rather scared and giddy at the same time. The lovely person who bought it asked for either Draco/Ginny or Harry/Astoria, and since I love my Weasleys, I wrote my first ever Draco/Ginny – sneaking in some Scorpius/Lily, naturally. I’m very pleased with the way it came out, and I can assure you that it’s probably not what you expect it to be. It’s called _Samsara_ , it’s about 40,000 words on five parts, and it’s my first attempt at writing in the present tense. So, if you’re interested in these sorts of stories, it’s coming out next week probably. :D 
> 
> Last thing, if any of you is on Livejournal, I created a Lugo community a few months back. But Livejournal is so slash-oriented (or my Flist is, anyway) that I haven’t told almost anyone about it (only my closest friends). You can find it here: [](http://hugo-loves-lily.livejournal.com/)[hugo_loves_lily](http://hugo-loves-lily.livejournal.com/). So friend it away and maybe in the future we’ll get some fests and events about the Lugo! 
> 
> Thank you again. SO MUCH. You are the most fantastic public that an author can hope to have, and in my heart I think about you all as my friends. You’ve made my days brighter and my nights sleepless as I read your comments from all over the world at the most ungodly hours. I am going to miss you. (By the way, I’m not crying, you are!)
> 
> Thank you. Grazie. Merci. Gracias. Obrigada. Dank u. Danke. 谢谢. ありがとう. ❤️
> 
> ETA: This story is not over, turn the page for a special bonus Hugo!POV chapter and for NSFW fanart from chapter 22! x


	36. Hugo's Missing Scenes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, I hope this isn't too anticlimactic, but I was re-reading your awesome comments the other day and so many of you asked for different scenes from Hugo's perspective. And well.. I've decided to grant your wishes! :D These are a bunch of scenes from 'Ask Lavender' from Hugo's point of view. They fit into the story and I've written what chapters they are from! 
> 
> I really hope you enjoy them! 
> 
> And in case you've missed it, the sequel is up! It's called [Lily Luna Potter's Best Birthday Ever](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6847414) and I really kind of love it even though there isn't any smut.. Oh well! There are some sexy times, though.. ;) 
> 
> And I also should point you towards my birthday present from my friend Daye. It's called [World Tour](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6924523) and it's sweet and smutty and adorable and I loved it (and it's Lugo!!) so you should totally show him some love! (If you want to.) :D 
> 
> Love you all to bits! ♥ x

***

From Chapter VII

The cupboard next to Hugo’s hand was slammed shut with a loud bang that made him start. He stepped back, eyes wide, and turned jerkily, startled to see McLaggen standing there with a smirk on his tanned face.

“Idiot,” muttered Hugo, shaking his head.

McLaggen burst into laughter. “You were lost in thought _again_ , Weasley,” he said. “You know that you’re the last one here?”

“You’re here, too,” he pointed out sourly, putting the photograph he had been staring at for the past twenty minutes back into his cupboard and locking it with a spell.

“I came back to check on you,” he replied calmly. “Moffatt was about to come herself, but I don’t think she would have appreciated finding you staring at another girl’s picture.”

Hugo could feel his cheeks becoming way too hot for his own good. “It’s not… it’s not what it looks like,” he said. And, maybe, if his voice hadn’t trembled that much, he would have almost sounded convincing.

McLaggen flashed him an impish grin. “I think it’s exactly what it looks like,” he said calmly. “And I know perfectly well who your belle is, too.”

Hugo’s eyes widened. “No, I swear I’m not—”

“Lily,” said John matter-of-factly. “Lily Potter. You are barmy for her, aren’t you?” He cocked his head and his smirk became even wider.

Hugo’s jaw dropped so much that it started to hurt. “What?”

“Please, Weasley,” he sighed, sitting wearily on the bench. “I’ll admit that I’m awesome at this game called love, but to be honest even a Troll would understand that you’re in love with her.” He raised a finger and started counting. “First, you keep talking about her. I know more about her now than when we were back at school. Second, you keep pictures of her in your cupboard and keep staring at them. Third, your face light up when you see her. Fourth—”

“I’m not in love with her,” he muttered, feeling his cheeks burning now. God. Was he turning the usual, embarrassing crimson shade? That would have been a tell-tale sign that McLaggen was right. “She’s my cousin, by the way,” he added haughtily, as if that would have stopped any further speculation from his friend’s part.

“Such a stupid excuse,” laughed McLaggen. “So?”

Hugo looked at him with eyes wide. He opened his mouth to reply something, but he couldn’t find anything to say. Yeah. So what exactly? He didn’t know.

“I’m… hungry. I’m off to get lunch,” muttered Hugo.

“Better if you hurry, since you’ve spent most of the lunchbreak brooding over Lily’s picture,” chuckled McLaggen, “there’s not much left in the canteen.”

***

From Chapter XIV

“So,” said Hugo as he wrapped a towel around his hips. “Remember that time you said that you thought that I might have liked someone…?”

“No,” replied McLaggen, turning off the shower. “But I remember when I said that you were barmy for Lily.”

Hugo rolled his eyes. “Yeah,” he said nonetheless. “That time. You… you said it was alright, right? Even though she’s… you know…”

“Yeah, of course it’s alright. My grandparents were cousins. Blood purity and all that crap, though,” said McLaggen, towelling off his soppy hair. “While you’re just madly in love with her.”

Hugo let out a groan. “Will you shut up?” he pleaded. “But yeah, basically…”

“Wait,” said McLaggen, finally wrapping the towel around his hips. “Are you admitting that you’re in love with Lily?”

Hugo looked at him and bit down hard on his bottom lip. “God, yes,” he whispered, nodding. “I love her.”

“Well, I’d throw confetti in the air, but I don’t have any with me,” said McLaggen cheerfully. “This is long, long overdue. But now, you’ve admitted it to yourself and me, when are you going to confess your undying love to the lassie?”

“Oh, I was thinking when a Troll becomes Minister for Magic,” said Hugo flatly, making his way to his cupboard.

“What? But that might take ages,” protested McLaggen. “Come on, Weasley. You were in Gryffindor; can’t you find the courage to go and tell her that you are madly in love with her?”

“No,” he replied sullenly. “Because she doesn’t like me that way.”

“Yes, and Leprechauns are nice fellas,” sighed McLaggen. “She loves you back big time.”

“How do you even know?” huffed Hugo.

“Because, as I said, I’m ace at this game called love…”

***

From Chapter XXIII

When Hugo woke up, he felt like he had died and gone to heaven.

 _Because that had to be heaven_.

Lily’s white back was pressed against his chest, her shoulder blades pushing gently into his muscles. He still had his arm around her stomach, and he could feel her gentle, regular breathing under his palm.

He wanted to move his hands all over that smooth and warm skin, feel every inch of her naked body under his fingers, but the thought that he might tickle her back into consciousness scared him into complete stillness.

He didn’t want that moment to finish. He wanted to stay forever in her bed, with his arms around her and her round and perfect arse pressed against his groin.

He swallowed and closed his eyes. God. No wonder he woke up with such a painful stiffy.

Lily took a deep breath and snuggled closer to him.

He held his breath for a few seconds, but when he was sure she wasn’t waking up, he tightened his embrace around her. He moved away her hair with his nose and started to press light kisses all over her neck. He could feel her heart beating under his lips, her sweet scent invaded his nostrils and he inhaled her deeply, wanting to keep the perfume of his Lily in his head for the whole day.

God. If only he could find the courage to tell her that he loved her. No, that he was in love with her. If only he could ask her out, take her to a nice restaurant, then to the beach, then kiss her properly, sweep her off her feet, make love to her, wake up next to her, and cuddle for a whole day. Naked. In bed.

He closed his eyes. They had just had sex. And it had been glorious, of course, but he didn’t want just that. He wanted her to be his. He didn’t want her to go out with Derek. He didn’t want her to ask him to help her out with the letters. He wanted her. He just wanted her, plain and simple.

Then why couldn’t he tell her? Why couldn’t he just blurt it out?

Because she surely wasn’t interested. How could she be? Maybe she was just having fun with him. Maybe they were just friends with benefits and he hadn’t caught on that.

His alarm went off and Hugo had to be fast to slide his arm away from Lily and slap the ball away from them. He growled as it deflated and blew raspberries around them. He didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay there all day.

Maybe he could call in sick, just for once.

She took a deep breath in her sleep and turned a bit towards him, the underside of her soft breasts brushing against Hugo’s arm. His cock twitched as he swallowed a groan.

He had to go and take a shower. It was either that or wanking next to Lily, and that was not an option, no matter how inviting it was.

He kissed her temple and then he couldn’t resist and trailed kisses all over her cheek, ear, and neck.

“I so want you to come and watch me play,” he whispered. “Please, come and watch me play today, Lily.” He kissed her again. “I’ll take you out tonight. I’ll take you to the best restaurant in London. Just you and me, okay?”

She parted her lips and inhaled deeply.

“I love you,” he whispered, kissing her one last time. “I love you so much.”

He finally disentangled himself from her body and rolled away. He slipped out of the covers as silently as he could and tucked her in again.

God. That day away from her was going to be torture.

***

“If I tell you something, you promise not to tell anybody?”

“Do I ever?”

Hugo had to admit that no, John never said anything to anybody.

“Alright,” he murmured. “I slept with Lily last night.”

McLaggen’s neck jerked towards him so quickly that for a moment Hugo expected his head to fall off and roll away from his body. “You what?”

“Just slept,” Hugo hurried to say. “Just slept one next to the other. I swear.” It was _so_ not true. But he wasn’t going to tell McLaggen what had really happened between the two of them. Not to McLaggen or anybody else in the whole world.

McLaggen narrowed his eyes and stared at Hugo. “And?”

Hugo smiled dreamily; he turned around and spelled the door of the changing room closed. “And it was amazing and now I can’t think about anything but how perfectly her body fit against mine,” he sighed. “And when I woke up this morning I didn’t want to let her go.” He threw his head back and leant it against the wall. “Fuck, I am in love with her.”

“Yeah, well, even the woman from at the canteen knows. And she never even sees you nor she knows your name.”

“Oh, shut up, McLaggen,” said Hugo half-heartedly. “I’ve just never felt like that for a girl…”

“But you had girlfriends back at school, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but those were crushes, definitely not… _this_.”

McLaggen smirked and folded his arms across his chest. “And this is…?”

“Love,” he sighed. “Awesome, scary, bloody fantastic love…”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “I told you that three months ago. You’re an idiot, Weasley.”

“I know.”

***

Between Chapter XXVII and Chapter XXVIII

“You’re an idiot, Weasley,” muttered McLaggen.

Hugo glared at him. “Shut up, McLaggen,” he replied darkly. “You don’t understand.”

“Yeah, because you need to be a sodding genius to understand,” he huffed. “Especially after all the times I’ve had to listen to your rigmaroles about how much you like Lily and how perfect and beautiful she is and how can you tell her that you’re in love with her.”

Hugo looked away from McLaggen’s amused face and back at Julia and Maggie, who were laughing and drinking, looking drunker every second that passed. He couldn’t even keep giving them a roasting about what they had said to Lily. It was useless; they were wasted. They wouldn’t remember it.

“Why don’t you just tell her?” went on McLaggen. “She loves you back.”

“No, she doesn’t,” snapped Hugo. “Not that way, at least,” he added darkly.

“Listen, if you think—”

“Hugo! Hugo!” called Marie with a giggle. “She wants you.”

Hugo and most of other people on that beach turned to look at Marie while she made her way towards them. Lily was at her side, dragging her feet on the sand with great difficulty, leaning against the other girl’s arm, and looking ghastly.

“Oh, God,” said Hugo, walking to her. “Lily. Lily! Are you okay?”

She stretched her arms forward and he caught her, kept her upright and squeezed her to his chest in a hug.

“What happened? Are you crying? Are you feeling sick?”

She didn’t reply but closed her eyes, leaning completely against him. She felt so small and defenceless as she let him support her against his body.

“Lily. Talk to me. Lily!”

She opened her mouth and whispered something, but the words were too slurred for him to understand them. She said his name, though, of that he was sure.

“What? What? Lily, are you okay?”

She seemed to be trying to speak again, but again he couldn’t understand a word she was saying.

“What? I don’t understand,” he said, starting to panic. How could she be that bad? She had never been that incoherent, not even when she was so drunk she was sick. “Lily? Lily!” He squeezed her against his chest, he didn’t know what he was doing, he just wanted to keep her safe in his arms. Just wanted her to know that he was there for her.

Like that, though, he couldn’t see her face, he couldn’t make sure that she was okay. He released and slowly lowered her to the ground. Laughter and murmurs rose all around them, but he ignored them.

Hugo looked at her and his heart skipped a beat. She had her eyes closed, and… Was she breathing? She didn’t look like she was. She was pale. Was she…

“Lily!” he cried. “She’s not breathing! Lily! Lily…” He touched her face; she was cold. He pushed his fingers against her neck, but he couldn’t feel her heart.

Oh, God. What had he done?

“She’s not breathing,” he shouted. “Lily! Lily!” He wanted to lower his head to hers and give her mouth to mouth resuscitation, but he didn’t know how to do that.  

People were crowding around them, closing them in a tight circle, someone was screaming, McLaggen was snapping at Marie, Marie was saying something about it being a joke, or something. But jokes were funny, this was not.

“Oh, God,” he muttered, cupping Lily’s pale cheeks. “Lily… Oh, God.”

He didn’t even think about it, he didn’t even stop to try to understand what he had to do. All he could think about was that Lily was dying and he had to do all he could to prevent that. He scooped her up in his arms, hugging her tightly to his chest and closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” asked McLaggen, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn towards him.

“Going to St Mungo’s,” replied Hugo jerking his arm away and looking at Lily as she was tossed about indelicately in his arms. 

“You can’t,” whispered McLaggen urgently. “There are Muggles on this beach.”

“I don’t care,” hissed Hugo. “She’s dying.”

“No, Hugo. Marie—”

But Hugo didn’t care what Marie had said, all he cared about was Lily and that she wasn’t breathing and that she was cold and lifeless in his arms. He thought of St Mungo’s and of Dominique and the other Healers, and he was suddenly gone from the beach.

When he opened his eyes again he was standing in the white Atrium of the hospital. Lily was still in his arms, still not breathing.

“Help!” he cried. “Help, please! She’s dying!”

He hugged her to his chest as he walked unsteadily towards the empty information desk, and when he looked at her again, he saw that her face and neck were covered in blood. “Oh, God! Lily! Lily, no! Oh, God! She’s dying! Please, please! Help!”

When Healers crowded around him, it was all a blurry whirlwind of uniforms and faces. They were talking to him and they were trying to detach Lily from his arms, but he couldn’t leave her, not until they told him that she was going to be all right. They asked him questions, but he couldn’t understand nor reply to any of them.

“Let her go!” said someone.

“You’re bleeding!”

He wanted to say that no, _she_ was bleeding, but he couldn’t. Why were words not leaving his mouth? Why couldn’t he formulate a coherent thought? What was wrong with him?

“Hugo! Hugo! Let her go!”

Dominique’s voice cut through his head like a warm knife cut through butter. He blinked and finally he was able to put his cousin’s face into focus. Dominique was standing right in front of him, her hands on his arms, she was looking at him with eyes wide.

“You’re bleeding, Hugo,” she said firmly. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Lily,” he babbled. “Lily is dead.”

“Let her go,” she said and he finally did so as two Healers grabbed her from his arms and laid her down on a stretcher that was floating in mid-air.

“She’s dead, and it’s my fault. She’s dead, she’s dead, it’s all my fault.”

He was pushed back and he found himself seated on a stretcher as well, then he was pushed even more until he was finally lying. “She’s dead,” was all he could say.

“Hugo, you Splinched yourself,” said Dominique as she fussed over his shoulder.

“Lily…” he babbled.

“What happened?” asked Dominique as she poured something that stung on his wound.

“She’s dead,” mumbled Hugo. “She’s dead.”

“Hugo!” she said firmly. “Look at me. She’s not dead.”

“It’s all my fault…”

Dominique cupped his cheeks and tilted his head upwards to make him look at her. “She is not dead,” she said firmly. “Do you understand me? You’re in shock, Hugo. Tell me what happened, start from the beginning.”

Hugo looked at her with eyes wide, but he couldn’t help complying at her request. “We were at the beach and… and she came back from the loo… and she just… she was talking and I couldn’t understand anything and she… she was not breathing and I… I just Disapparated in front of the Muggles and McLaggen told me not to, but I didn’t… I just… she wasn’t breathing, Dominique, she was dying. She was dying in my arms, I swear.”

“Shh,” she quietened him gently. “Calm down. Did she take something? Some potion? Alcohol? Did they slip her something?”

Hugo swallowed loudly. “She was drinking, she was drinking tequila. She was drunk, and Marie… Marie took her to the loo… and when she came back… she was… she was…”

“Did Marie give her something?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Was she fine before tonight?”

“Yes,” he said forcefully. “Yes, she was perfectly fine. She was happy and then… then we had a row, and I… I…”

“Healer Weasley.”

Dominique turned to look at the Healer that was walking towards her. They exchanged a few words in private, talking too softly for Hugo to understand them, and Dominique nodded gravely and sighed. Then she smiled and thanked the Healer and finally went back to Hugo.

“What?” asked Hugo, pushing himself up. “Is Lily… Is Lily…”

“She’s fine,” replied Dominique gently, sitting next to him on the floating stretcher. “She was given the Draught of Living Death. They gave her the antidote, but it might take a while to kick in. A couple of days, probably.”

Hugo felt relief wash over him like a wave washed over sand. “She’s fine?” he asked feebly. “She’s not… She’s not…”

“Definitely not dead,” said Dominique maternally. “I asked the Healer to call Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry and your parents, too.”

Hugo’s weary head fell back on the stretcher. “She’s not dead,” he murmured, staring at the bright white ceiling. “She’s not dead.”

“No, she’s not. Now, we need to understand why—”

“I need to see her.”

“What? No, no. You need to stay here and rest, and as soon as we have a room for—Hugo!”

But he wasn’t listening to her. He was pushing himself up already.

“Hugo! Stop! I’m not going to tell you where she is. Come back here!”

But he didn’t stop. He would search the whole hospital if necessary, but he would find her.

“Oh, bloody hell,” snapped Dominique, grabbing his arm and effectively managing to stop his wandering. He hadn’t gone very far anyway. “Come with me. But she is unconscious, alright? Nothing is going to wake her up.”

***

Lily was lying on a hospital bed, looking peaceful and pale amongst the crisp sheets. Her hair looked like blood around her head, and Hugo’s heart swelled in his chest at the sight.

“She’s knocked out, Hugo,” said Dominique. “She won’t hear a thing and won’t wake up even if you shake her or hex her, okay?”

Hugo nodded, then finally he looked at Dominique and hugged her tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for saving her.”

“I didn’t do anything,” she said with a little chuckle. “She was never in danger, Hugo. Alright? Do you understand that?”

He nodded. It didn’t matter how much Dominique repeated it, though. To him, Lily had almost died in his arms and nobody could convince him otherwise.

He let his cousin go and walked unsteadily towards the bed. “Oh, Lily,” he sighed as he sat down next to her. “I’m so sorry.”

He grasped her hand and caressed it, drawing circles and rubbing his finger over her soft skin. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated. He turned away from her and lay down on the bed next to her.

“Hugo,” whispered Dominique.

He ignored her completely. He just brought his head closer to hers and kissed her temple tenderly. She was cold and still and he could barely feel her breathing.

“I want to stay here,” he said, worming an arm under her shoulders to move her closer to him. “Can I?”

Dominique sighed loudly. “I suppose you’re not going to wake her up,” she said. “But your parents and Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry are arriving soon. They’ll probably want to talk to you.”

He nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

Dominique nodded back. “No problem, Hugo. Try to rest for a while.”

***

He tried to rest, but he couldn’t sleep, and he couldn’t even keep on lying down next to Lily and hugging her to him when their parents arrived. It was another whirlwind of voices and concerned faces, even though they all seemed rather unworried about Lily’s fate. Probably, the fact that she was fine and had never been about to die was the first thing that Dominique and the other Healers had told them.

They looked rather angry with Marie, though, and very worried about Hugo.

“Are you okay?” asked his mother a dozen times. “Are you sure you’re okay? Does your shoulder hurt? Dominique said that you Splinched yourself.”

“I’ve left James and Albus in Lyme Regis,” said Uncle Harry, “with the Obliviators. There was a group of Muggles that saw when you Disapparated with Lily, but they’ve been taken care of.”

“It’s not his fault, Harry,” said Auntie Ginny forcefully. “He thought she was dying.” She grabbed Lily’s hand and sighed. “Oh, God. It must have been horrible.”

“I know,” said Uncle Harry gently. “We’ve interrogated your friends, Hugo. And we’ve brought Miss Moffatt and John McLaggen to the Ministry.”

“Why McLaggen?” asked Hugo feebly.

“Because he seemed the more knowledgeable about the whole situation. And Miss Moffatt was crying and in shock, and altogether she was rather unhelpful.”

“She drugged Lily,” said Hugo harshly. “She must have done it.”

“She did,” replied his father. “Right, Harry? Didn’t you say that she did?”

Uncle Harry nodded. “Yes. She said it was just a prank, but she probably hadn’t envisioned the consequences of such a trick.”

“And what a horrible prank,” hissed his mother. “Making Hugo believe that his cousin was dead.”

“She just wanted to knock her out for a while, apparently,” said Uncle Harry. “But yes, she’s waiting for her parents at the Ministry now, but we won’t let her off the hook that easily.”

“Good,” said Aunt Ginny firmly. “I hope her behaviour will affect her trials. She’s too immature to play professionally. Quidditch players need to have brains and a heart.”

“She is immature,” agreed his mother sternly. “My poor baby,” she added, looking at Hugo. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Hugo, comfortably seated on the bed next to Lily, nodded and looked down at his cousin. “Yes,” he replied meekly. “I just thought I lost her forever. I thought she was dying.”

His mother and his aunt let out some sympathetic sounds, and then, in turn, they all hugged him tightly, as if he was a brave little soldier who had just gotten back from a battle.

It was comforting, though, and he let them sooth him with kind words and praise for his heroic gestures.

***

Hugo slept or lay down with Lily every moment he could. At the hospital and then back at home, when Dominique finally discharged her.

And when their family came to visit – and even Derek, bringing her flowers and stopping for two whole hours – Hugo felt rather guilty for the fact that he’d rather be alone with Lily, staring at her sleeping, making sure that she was alright, instead of talking to them as they fussed about him.

_She was the one they should fuss about!_

“Lily-flower,” he whispered to her on Saturday night, when they were finally alone. “I’m so sorry for Marie. I went to talk to her and told her to get lost.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know why she did it, anyway. She’s jealous.” He smiled sadly. “And she has all the reason in the world to be. I’m so in love with you, Lily, you can’t even start to understand.” He chuckled as he rubbed his fingers on her forehead. “I don’t understand it in the first place,” he whispered. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since forever. Since well before we moved in together, you know?”

He lay down completely and snuggled closer to her, hugging her tightly. He could feel her breathing, and now her heart was beating gently and he could actually hear it; it was comforting.

“I don’t know what made me realise that I loved you, Lils,” he continued quietly. “But I do. I really, really do. More than anything. When I close my eyes, all I see is your face, you smiling at me, your big, bright eyes looking at me. And my heart always skips a beat.”

He squeezed her to his chest. “I’m going to sleep here, tonight, too,” he whispered. “Sleep tight, alright?” He kissed her cheek tenderly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

***

From Chapter XXVIII 

The night was warm and humid, and Muggle London was swarming with tourists and Londoners out to have a good time. Luckily, Hugo’s mother had had the brilliant idea of calling the pub to reserve a table for their party; otherwise, they would have had to wait hours before they could sit.

Or not really: Uncle Bill and Uncle Fred had been ready to Confound whoever stood between them and the best table in the place. It wasn’t necessary, though, in fact, they were pointed towards a round wooden table in a corner and then they took turns to order so much food and alcohol that their wives and girlfriends and sisters and cousins and daughters would have looked at them with disgust.

Except for Lily. Lily would have joined them and she would have had the time of her life. And Hugo would have sat next to her, and they would have spent the whole evening chatting and laughing and—

“So, Hugo,” said Uncle Harry seriously, snapping him out of his Lily-related thoughts. “Any news on the Derek front?” he asked as he dipped a generous piece of sausage into the mashed potatoes. “Has he made a serious move with Lily, yet?”

Hugo raised his eyes from his Shepherd Pie and looked back at his uncle. “What?” he asked throatily. “No, no. No news. Lily doesn’t even really like him that much…”

“But he likes her,” said Fred. “Auntie Ginny keeps repeating that he’s madly in love with her…”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” said Hugo coldly. “He can love her all he wants, but if she doesn’t want him, he’s not going to go very far with her.”

Luckily, after that, the conversation focused on Lily and how well she could defend herself from unwanted suitors. Then, somehow, they ended up talking about Auntie Ginny and that time that she had used the Bat-Bogey Hex on Scorpius’ father. And then about Hugo’s mother and that time that she had slapped Scorpius’ father while a Hippogriff was being sentenced to death. And then, it was no wonder that Scorpius looked that flustered by the conversation.

Dinner went well, though, they talked for hours, ate more than they usually ate in a week and, most importantly, they had a good time.

Once they were stuffed and relaxed, they finally paid and tried to decide where to go next, but that didn’t work equally as well.

Uncle Percy and Uncle George, weirdly enough, agreed that they should have gone back to Diagon Alley. Uncle George because he wanted to have some proper Wizarding drinks before the evening was over, and Uncle Percy because he was obviously worried to be caught in the middle of some disastrous incident that involved Muggles who were exposed to magic – and, considering the people he was out with, that was not improbable at all. Not even the fact that the Head Auror was there seemed to reassure him.

“I’m gonna go to the Leaky only if you pay for me, Perce,” said Uncle Bill. “Otherwise I’m staying here, and we’re going to that place—what was it called again, Al?”

“Ministry of Sound,” said Albus patiently. “I told you a gazillion times already, Uncle Bill.”

“That one,” he said, ignoring Albus completely.

“But I don’t want to go to the Leaky,” protested Louis. “We never get to go out in Muggle London. Come on, it’s gonna be fun!”

“I live in Muggle London,” pointed out Uncle Harry. “It’s not _that_ fun.”

“Yeah, but you don’t go out, Dad,” said James. “You just get emergency groceries from the Tesco Express on the corner. That’s your biggest interaction with the Muggles of Islington.”

“Not even,” cackled James. “Mum does that.”

“Oh, shut it,” grunted Uncle Harry. “If you put it like that, I vote for Diagon Alley.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” said Hugo’s father. “We might be able to catch the end of the match on the Wireless if Neville is not going to be a jerk and let us listen to it this time.”

“Oh, God. Ron,” sighed Uncle Bill. “Nobody wants to listen to the Cannons being defeated for the umpteenth time this year.”

“Yeah, don’t you ever get tired?” asked Uncle Harry.

His father raised his chin. “Never,” he replied gruffly. “Are we going or not?”

“We’re not coming,” said Fred. “I want to go to Soho. It’s a blast on Saturday night. There’s always something going on, music, drinks, food…”

“Oh, God,” sighed Uncle Percy. “Hadn’t you had enough food and drink to last you a lifetime?”

“What? It’s almost midnight, Uncle Percy,” said James, “it’s as if our dinner was yesterday…”

“Alright, alright,” said Teddy, raising his hands. “We can split up, I mean, it’s not like we have to spend the whole night together, do we? Who wants to go to Soho can go to Soho and who wants to go to Diagon Alley, then can go to Diagon Alley.”

They all seemed to consider it carefully, and then the statement was replied with some shrugged shoulders and many nods.

“Sounds good,” said Uncle Bill.

“Yeah, you old people go and have a Butterbeer or some chamomile tea,” grinned Fred. “And we’ll go and enjoy the city. Muggle style…”

“Chamomile tea?” thundered Uncle George. “I can drink you under the table any moment, you knob.”

Everybody laughed at that, but then they all seemed tired of the bantering and decided that it was finally time to get on with their plans. So, they bid goodbye to their fathers and uncles and they finally made their way to Soho.

“Finally,” said Fred excitedly as they got off the tube. “Alright, so there’s this restaurant we need to get to.”

“Oh, God, Fred,” complained Scorpius. “Can’t we just go and have something to drink somewhere? I don’t think I can eat anything else until next week.”

“He doesn’t want to go there to eat,” said Al. “He wants to go there for the pretty waitress…”

“What?” asked Louis with a grin. “Who’s the bird?”

“Miranda,” said Fred calmly. “And she’s gorgeous and wants to play Quidditch next year.”

“She’s a witch?” asked Scorpius. “Then why would she work in a Muggle restaurant?”

“It’s her parents’,” replied Fred dismissively. “Muggleborn.” He suddenly stopped in the middle of Piccadilly Circus. “That way,” he said pointing towards Coventry Street. “There’s a Muggle Butterbeer festival on the way, too.”

“Beer,” pointed out Hugo. “Muggles don’t have Butterbeer.”

“Yeah, that one,” said Fred cheerfully. “I heard they give free samples and pints are half the prices.”

“Are they good?” asked Scorpius, wrinkling his nose up at the notion. “I’ve tried some with Rose once; it was just so damn bitter and unenjoyable.”

“She had you trying some Guinness, hadn’t she?” said Hugo as they walked. “She loves it.”

“But it’s bitter like hell,” said Al. “And it doesn’t even look like beer.”

“Yeah, this one’s gonna be much better.”

They finally reached the festival and indeed people were drinking beers and laughing and watching football on a giant screen. A group of Japanese tourists were taking pictures of the scene, while a gigantic, but good-natured looking man was handing out beers and replying, “Cheers, love,” indistinctly to women and men who paid for their drinks.

“Five,” hollered Fred.

“Seven, you idiot,” snorted Teddy.

Fred laughed. He fished his pockets for some pounds and gave them to the man without even counting them before handing the beers to his cousins.

Hugo found a pint-sized cup in his hands and started sipping from it without much conviction. He was full and not even the beer would manage to make its way to his stomach.

“Let’s go down that way,” said Fred. “Too many Muggles here.”

“Oh, Merlin,” sighed Albus. “Shut up. You can’t call them Muggles in front of them.”

“Yeah, because ‘Merlin’ doesn’t give you away as a lunatic…”

“Look who’s talking, with your blue hair.”

“That girl has blue hair, too,” said Teddy, jerking his head towards a teenager standing in a corner and talking quickly to a group of friends.

“So you look like a girl,” said Louis. “Shall I tell my friends that you’re my sister-in-law?”

“Shut it, Lou,” growled Teddy.

“Bloody hell,” said Fred. “Will you please stop talking rubbish when we get to the restaurant? She’s going to think that I’m a loser because of my family.”

“Yeah, who says that we want to have this Miranda joining us, tonight?” said James. “I mean, it’s a boys’ night out.”

“Oh, sod off, James. You’re just jealous.”

“Of what?” snorted James.

“Of me having a girlfriend,” replied Fred, downing his beer. “She’s gorgeous and—”

“And she’s not your girlfriend,” pointed out Albus. “You’re just crushing over her like a pathetic idiot…”

Fred rolled his eyes. “You need to catch up, Al,” he said. “We’ve already done a couple of things that you wouldn’t even know how to call them.”

“Yes, right,” laughed James. “I bet that Hugo did more with his bird than you will ever do with her.”

Hugo choked on the beer as someone patted his back none-too-nicely.

“What? Marie?” asked Louis. “That pretty Quidditch player you brought to Rose’s party.”

“What did you do with her?”

“What?” he asked, flustered. “No, no. It’s not her.”

“Oh, but there’s someone,” said Teddy with a grin. “Who is she?”

“Yes, apparently someone he’s been doing all sorts of naughty things with this summer,” said James, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “But he wouldn’t tell us who she is.”

Hugo swallowed, but despite the huge amount of beer he had just knocked back, his mouth was suddenly very dry.

“Maybe we have to ask Lily, I bet she knows,” said Al, his green eyes gleaming.

“No, don’t,” gasped Hugo. “She—”

“Oh, come on,” said James, tightening the arm around his neck. “Won’t you tell us? I promise that we won’t have a laugh, no matter how unorthodoxly attractive she is.”

“What?” exclaimed Hugo, pushing James away. “She’s gorgeous. Bloody gorgeous.” He shook his head and finished his beer. “The most gorgeous creature who has ever walked this earth.”

“Really? I want to see her now,” said Scorpius, laughing.

“That gorgeous? And you said you two are not together? Maybe you’re not her type. Maybe she’s more into the Auror kind of man?” asked James, with a grin. “Care to introduce her to me?”

Hugo’s jaw dropped in disbelief; he brought a hand to his face and rubbed it forcefully all over it. Bloody sodding hell. James’ rant just sent shivers down his back.

“Come on, Hugo,” said Fred. “I told you everything about Miranda… It’s only fair that you tell us about this lady friend of yours.”

Hugo glared at him.

“Hey,” said Teddy soothingly. “Leave him alone. I don’t blame him for not wanting to tell a bunch of horny idiots about her.” He smiled at Hugo. “Is she really that pretty?”

Hugo shook his head. “She’s bloody gorgeous,” he sighed.

“You love her?”

“More than anything else.”

“Bloody hell, that sounds serious,” muttered James. “Come on, Hugo. I promise I’ll personally hex the arse of the first one who picks on you because of her until it’s as big as Grandma’s.”

“Oh, James,” sighed Al. “Poor Gran.”

Hugo looked at James, he was grinning reassuringly at him, so Hugo smiled back at him, but he also shook his head. “I really can’t,” he murmured. “You… you wouldn’t understand…”

“I’d understand,” said Louis cheerfully. “Roxanne told me who she’s seeing and I totally understood.”

“Who is she seeing?” asked Fred quickly. “She didn’t tell me anything!”

“Because _you_ wouldn’t understand,” grinned Louis.

“You piece of—”

“Shut up, you two,” said James. “Come on, Hugo. If you don’t tell us, we won’t let it go, you know that.”

Hugo shook his head. “I can’t,” he mumbled. “She doesn’t even know that I feel like that.”

“Why don’t you tell her?” asked Albus, surprised. “You’re definitely boyfriend material.” He raised his hands near his head and looked around himself. “Two girls were saying this at Rose’s birthday party. Not my words.”

Hugo took a deep breath and shook his head even more vehemently. “I’m… I’m scared she’d run for the hills,” he muttered. “She’ll think I’m… I’m a freak…”

“What? Why?” asked Fred.

Suddenly his cousins’ voices were no more teasing, though. They were rather comforting and warming, as if they thought he needed an intervention to boost his self-esteem. As if they thought that _that_ was the problem.

“You’re awesome, Hugo,” said Teddy. “Honestly, I talked about you to my colleagues at the Ministry the other day and I was so enthusiastic that they asked me if you were the reason why I married a Weasley.”

Everybody laughed and reassuring hands patted his back.

“Yeah, everybody in the MLE always asks about you. You’re going to be a Quidditch star. Every girl is gonna fall at your feet,” said Albus.

“Not just because of that,” said Scorpius, glaring at Albus. “But because you’re awesome. Honestly, she’s going to feel like the luckiest girl on earth when you tell her that you love her.”

Hugo looked around himself at those sentimental individuals that apparently were his cousins. Those were some of the sappiest things he’d ever heard them saying. “Thank you, guys,” he said slowly. “I… I don’t know what to say…” Did they really mean those things? God. That was cool. That was really cool. He bit his bottom lip. “Do you really think she would… she would be happy to know that…?”

An enthusiastic chorus replied his query, making him grin and blush slightly as they patted his shoulders and messed up his locks.

He pushed them away jokingly and looked at them with an ill-contained excitement. And suddenly an idea popped into his mind. They would understand. His family would understand, and it would be a huge weight off his conscience.

Oh, God! Yes. He let out an awkward chuckle and finally murmured, “It’s Lily, you know.”

Some hands stopped on his shoulders, and most of the faces around him changed from cheerful to sporting much more serious expressions to finally show all their surprise.

“It’s… It’s Lily what?” asked Louis softly.

Hugo’s heart skipped a beat at his incredulous tone, but he tried to keep his lips upward in a smile. “The… the girl I love… It’s Lily,” he whispered. “I love her more than life.”

Silence met his confession, and those freckled faces around him seemed to pale visibly in the light of the street. They all looked back at him like a school of fish that had been hauled out of the water all of a sudden.

“What?” asked Fred throatily. “ _Our_ Lily?”

Hugo swallowed and nodded. “Yeah.”

“My sister,” said Albus.

Hugo nodded again.

“Oh,” was all Scorpius could comment.

They didn’t seem what to add after that, and Hugo felt his stomach clench at the thought that he had done something stupid. Something irreparably stupid.

Suddenly, James let out a snort, and it wasn’t a happy sound. It was a low, throaty noise that announced that something bad was about to happen.

And surely enough. It did happen.

James stepped in front of Hugo and grabbed the front of his shirt in his hands. “You’re joking,” he muttered, inches from his face. “You are fucking joking, right?”

Hugo shook his head, eyes wide and gaping. “No,” he breathed. “I love her.”

James gritted his teeth and growled. “You messed around with my sister? Is she the girl you screwed?” He pushed him back until Hugo’s back was against a wall. “Your own cousin?”

Hugo grabbed James’ wrists and took a sharp breath. “I… I…”

“Shut the fuck up,” he growled, “you sick fuck.”

“James,” said Teddy, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, take it easy, alright?”

James shrugged Teddy off and turned to glare at him. “Stay out of this, Lupin,” he snarled, pushing Hugo back until the uneven bricks dug into his back.

“James,” said Albus nervously. “Calm down.”

“The fuck is wrong with you, Weasley,” James hissed at Hugo, ignoring his brother completely. “Did you force her? Did you brainwash my little sister so that you could play your dirty games with her?”

Hugo shook his head frantically. “No,” he said, his voice throaty. “I swear I love her. I would never hurt her.”

“You’ve been fucking her all summer,” he snarled. “All the fucking summer.” He jerked Hugo forward and then slammed him back, until his head crashed against the wall behind him. The impact was harsh and he let out a groan while everything around him went out of focus for a moment.

“James!” snapped Fred.

Then James was pushed off Hugo, Louis hurried to check Hugo’s head for blood, and Teddy came to stand between the two of them, a hand on James’ chest to keep him away.

“You alright?” asked Louis.

Hugo nodded softly.

“Will you calm down?” Teddy said to James. “People are starting to stare.”

James’ spirited eyes moved from Teddy to Hugo and back to Teddy. He raised his hands near his face and nodded jerkily. “I’m calm. I’m calm.”

Teddy took a deep breath. “Good,” he muttered darkly.

“I’m fucking calm,” hissed James, throwing himself at Hugo again. It was sudden and slightly unexpected and it knocked Hugo to the ground. “I’m fucking calm,” he repeated with a snarl. “Just like you are when you fuck my sister, right?” He brought his hand back and then down against Hugo’s face.

It hurt like hell. James hit him with the single-minded purpose of hurting him, and it worked big time.

“You will never touch her again, am I clear?” he screamed as he hit him again and then again. “Am I clear?”

Hugo could feel the metallic taste of blood invading his mouth as James’ fist hit his jaw. His vision was all spotty now, and the screams around them were not only coming from his cousins and Scorpius, but from passers-by too.

“James! Fucking hell!” shouted Fred.

“Get off him!” snapped Teddy.

Hugo didn’t move. He let James take out his rage on him, but he couldn’t hit him back. This was Lily’s brother. He couldn’t hit him and look at Lily without feeling guiltiness gnawing at him the following day. He couldn’t hit his own cousin.

“Shit,” hissed Albus, and finally James was pushed back and away from Hugo. “Shit, are you out of your mind?”

“Sodding hell,” said Louis as he looked down at Hugo. “Are you okay?”

“Fuck, James, fuck!” snapped Scorpius.

Hugo pushed himself into a sitting position and blinked, trying to put the scene around him into focus. James was held back by Albus and Fred. Each man holding one of his arms, and despite that James was trying to wriggle free from them.

“What do you want to do?” was hissing Albus. “Kill him?”

Teddy was kneeling next to Hugo, checking his face and muttering curses under his breath. “Shit,” he whispered. “We need to take you to St Mungo’s.”

Hugo shook his head and a wave of nausea rose in his throat. “No,” he said. “No, I just want to go home.”

“What? Not like that, you can’t.”

“You’re not going home until Lily is there,” growled James, still struggling to get free from Albus and Fred’s hands.

“Jesus,” grunted Fred, pushing James back and grabbing his shoulders. “Are you an idiot or what? Do you think Lily wouldn’t have said something if she didn’t want it? Do you think she’s a defenceless little girl?”

James swallowed and his face darkened. “He must have drugged her,” he growled. “Or cursed her.”

“Oh, God,” said Albus, rolling his eyes. “Really, James?”

“Shut up, James,” said Teddy. “Fucking hell, if you don’t shut up tonight, I’m going to make you shut up, and you’re not going to like it.”

“Make me, Lupin,” snarled James.

Teddy rolled his eyes and Hugo could see the effort he had to make to keep his hair from changing colour because of his rage. “Can you stand?” he asked Hugo. “I’ll take you to St Mungo’s.”

“No, I don’t want to go,” he said stubbornly. “I’m fine. I just need to sleep it off.”

“You look like you’ve been trampled by a pack of Thestrals,” pointed out Scorpius.

“You’re going to scare Lily to death like that.”

“She’s already sleeping at this time,” he mumbled softly.

“Yeah, you would know, wouldn’t you? Pervert.”

“Bloody hell,” snapped Teddy, standing up. “Take him to the Ministry, Al.”

“What?” asked Albus, eyes wide.

“I’m arresting him for assault,” said Teddy, putting on his Auror voice. “He’s going to spend the night in jail; let’s see what his father has to say, tomorrow.”

“He’ll say that I should have killed him,” spluttered James, “for raping his daughter.”

Hugo’s heart skipped a beat at the unfair accusation. He pushed himself up, helped by Louis, and took a couple of unsteady steps towards James, blood falling to the ground as he did. “I’ve never done that,” he slurred, from behind his swollen lip. “I’ve never touched her against her will. I swear. I swear, James.”

James shook his head and snorted, looking away from him.

“Alright, counter order,” said Teddy to James. “You’re coming to my house and we’re going to talk.”

“I’d rather go to jail. Thank you very much,” hissed James.

“I’ll send you to Azkaban if you don’t shut up,” snapped Teddy. “Let’s see what Victoire has to say when we tell her that you beat the shit out of her little cousin.”

“And let’s see what she’ll say when we tell her that Hugo fucked Lily,” snapped James back.

Teddy laughed so heartily that for a moment all of them stared at him with eyes wide and a matching bewildered expression. “You’re in for a surprise, Jamie,” he said calmly. “Al, can you Apparate him to my house? I’ll be right there.”

Albus nodded, he grabbed James tightly in his hands and they were gone before James could snarl anything in reply.

“The Muggles!” gasped Hugo, looking at the people in the street. Weirdly enough, though, nobody was looking at them.

“Don’t worry,” said Scorpius. “They’re Confounded.”

“You sure you can go home?” said Teddy with concern. “We can make up some excuse and ask Dom to have a look at you.”

Hugo shook his head. “It’s fine,” he replied. “I just need to lie down.”

“You need a good Healing Spell,” said Fred. “But we’re all pants at that.”

“Shit, though,” said Louis quietly. “Lily? Really? You’re in love with her?”

Hugo swallowed and nodded, looking at him disconsolately through bruised eyes. “I’m an idiot, right?” he muttered.

“Hell no,” said Fred with a smile. “She’s pretty and has a heart of gold. She’s a catch.”

“Yeah, and I know she loves you back,” said Teddy.

“Not that way,” sighed Hugo.

“That way,” said Teddy calmly. “Trust me.”

Hugo knew they were just trying not to upset him even further, they didn’t really mean those things. Probably, they agreed with James. He smiled at them, though, and they recoiled, maybe because of the blood dripping down his teeth. He closed his mouth immediately and leant wearily against Louis.

“Alright, Louis, can you take Hugo home? Fred, you can go to your bird, and Scorpius, would you hold the spell until we’ve cleared the place?” asked Teddy. “I’ll be talking to James. It’s going to be a long night.”

Everybody nodded, Fred patted Teddy’s back sympathetically and then they were hugging Hugo as if he was a hero, not an idiot who had fallen in love with his cousin and just spilled the beans about it to her brothers.

“Let’s go,” said Louis, wrapping one of Hugo’s arms around his neck and helping him walking.

“Thank you, Louis,” murmured Hugo, and then they were gone.

***

From Chapter XXXIII

Hugo grabbed John’s arm and dragged him towards a disused broom closet. John didn’t even complain; he just let him pull him in there, looking actually relieved to be able to escape from the journalists and photographers that had tormented them all day long.

“Lily is my girlfriend,” blurted out Hugo excitedly once he had bolted the door at his back. “I kissed her yesterday after the trials, and God, she loves me, John! She loves me, too!”

“If that’s a surprised tone, you’re an idiot,” said John calmly. “I think I can safely say, I told you so, now, can’t I?”

Hugo laughed heartily at that. “Yeah, you can.”

***

Hugo stared into the fireplace for the longest minutes of his life. No, they probably weren’t minutes. They were hours, days, weeks. Months even.

He could feel the time tickling away and his heart becoming heavier with every second that passed.

It was almost eight, and now he knew it. She was not coming home. She was not coming to the party. She was staying at Derek’s.

Hugo fisted the tickets in his hand and gritted his teeth, feeling a painful pang in his chest at the thought that Lily had betrayed him like that. After all her promises and the kisses and their declarations of love.

She had promised she would break up with Derek and then come home in time for the ball. She had promised him. She had told Hugo that she didn’t love Derek. She had told him that she wanted to be with him.

Then why was she taking that long? Why couldn’t she just tell him to get lost and come back home. To him. To Hugo. Why? Did he really matter that little to her? He hadn’t stopped thinking about her for the whole summer, and now that he thought she was finally his… She still wasn’t. And she probably was never going to be.

He looked at the tickets in his hand and slapped down the one with Lily’s name, leaving it on the table as he stood up and finally made his way towards the door. He felt Rufus rubbing himself against his ankles, but he didn’t even look at him. He had to go outside and Apparate to Oliver Wood’s house, that was all he had to focus on. He had to pay attention not to Splinch himself again. It wouldn’t do it to get to the party of the year while he bled through his suit. It was bad enough that he was arriving without a date; his fellow players would have laughed at him if he bled to death on the polished floors of Oliver Wood’s Mansion.

He took a deep breath, bottling up all his stormy emotions at the bottom of his stomach, and closed his eyes. The magic of Apparition tugged forcefully behind his navel and soon he was standing in front of the elaborated gate that opened on the park that surrounded Oliver Wood’s house.

“May I see your ticket, Sir?”

Hugo blinked at the polite man that stood in front of the gate, a gloved hand stretched towards him to collect his ticket.

“Sure,” he replied flatly, fishing it out of his pocket.

“Thank you.” The man looked attentively at the piece of paper, and once he was satisfied that it was an original ticket, he smiled at Hugo and handed it back to him. “Enjoy the party, Sir,” said the man, moving away and letting Hugo pass through the ajar gate.

“Thanks,” he replied distractedly. He knew he wasn’t going to have a good time. All he wanted right now was to get to the bar and drink until he couldn’t feel the pain that was piercing his heart anymore. Drink until he had forgotten everything about Lily and Derek and himself.

He followed the path as if he was sleepwalking; waving his hand in front of his face every time a fairy had the nerve to fly in front of his nose. He didn’t look at the flowers, he didn’t look at the house ahead of him, he didn’t look at the people who were walking around him, laughing, chatting.

Had the party not been important, he would have stayed home. He would have waited for Lily, and then he would have told her exactly how much she had hurt him with her careless actions. But he couldn’t do that. He had to come tonight, he had to come to the party his boss was throwing to inaugurate the new Quidditch season.

“Can I take your jacket, Sir?”

Hugo looked around himself. How had he entered the house? He couldn’t remember climbing up the steps to the front door, nor walking inside. He looked at the man standing in front of the cloakroom and nodded as he took off his jacket.

“Thank you, Sir,” said the man. “May I have your hand?”

He gave him his hand, palm up, and the man performed a quick spell that made a little spiral appear for a moment on his skin and on the jacket.

“When you’d like to retrieve it, just stretch your hand towards the cloakroom, and it’ll come to you, Sir,” he instructed.

“Thank you,” replied Hugo motionlessly. “Can I ask you where the bar is?”

The man explained politely where he could find some alcohol in that place, and Hugo listened carefully, nodding at every word.

The bar had been set up in a corner of the main ballroom, near the immense table that was covered in inviting food. Hugo walked past it without even deigning it of a glance, though, dragging his feet on the floor and staring at the tall flutes filled with champagne had been placed near the bar. He grabbed one and downed it quickly, before taking another one and then another. He turned towards the bartender with a fourth in his hand. “A Firewhisky, and make it double,” he said darkly as he sat on a stool in front of the counter.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Weasley! How freaking awesome is this house?” said McLaggen wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling Hugo towards his overexcited persona. “Have you been to the toilet yet? There are people in there handing you towels after you’ve done your business.”

Hugo wiggled free from his arm, downed the champagne then the Firewhisky, and then ordered another. Another double. “Awesome,” he muttered darkly.

“Hey, wow,” said McLaggen, tilting his head to look at Hugo. “What happened? Isn’t that face out of place at the party of the year?”

“It’s my face,” grunted Hugo.

“Yeah, your face when your grandmother dies—oh, God! Your grandmother died!”

“No.”

There was a long silence during which Hugo ordered another Firewhisky. The bartender set to work at once, without asking any question nor commenting on the speed with which Hugo was downing those drinks.

“Where’s Lily?” asked McLaggen, his voice tinging with suspicion.

When Hugo turned to look at him, McLaggen was staring back at him with his eyes narrowed. Hugo felt his cheeks warm up, but he hoped that the alcohol would mask his embarrassment. “Ill,” he replied curtly.

“Ill?” asked McLaggen back. “What? But I thought you said—”

“She’s ill _now_ , let it go, McLaggen, Jeez,” grunted Hugo none-too-nicely. “Another one.” He pushed the empty glass towards the bartender and turned away from John.

“And that’s why you’re so cranky?” asked McLaggen. “Because she’s ill and you’re here all alone?”

“I’m not cranky,” hissed Hugo. “I’m fine.” He downed the third glass – or was it the fourth? – and raised a finger in front of the bartender. “Give me another one, something strong this time.”

“How many have you had? The party started like ten minutes ago,” pointed out McLaggen.

“Ten minutes ago and you’ve already been to the toilet,” he snorted. “How old are you? Eighty?”

McLaggen didn’t reply to the provocation, but Hugo could see him folding his arms across his chest out of the corner of his eye. “Were you such a jerk to Lily, too? Is that why she ditched you and now you’re here all alone?”

Hugo turned around so quickly the ballroom started to spin mercilessly and he had to grab McLaggen’s expensive suit to steady himself even though he was seated.

“Fuck you,” he muttered in front of his face.

McLaggen scrunched up his nose, probably because of his disgusting breath, but that only made Hugo angrier.

“Fuck you and fuck Lily,” he growled, pushing him back. “Give me another drink. Something stronger. Vodka. No. More Firewhisky. No. _Vodka_. Give me a double vodka on the rocks.”

The bartender – probably instructed to abide to every desire the guests might express that night – didn’t even flinch at the rude request, but started to prepare Hugo’s drink in the most efficient way.

“Are you sure you want to waste tonight like this?” asked McLaggen condescendingly. “You’re at the party of the century and you’re getting hammered like a fucking idiot.”

“Mind your own business,” snapped Hugo, even though now he had to grab the counter of the bar in front of him to stay upright on that stool. “Get lost, McLaggen.”

“Alright,” said John flatly. “Suit yourself.”

Hugo didn’t turn to look at him as he walked away, but he was sure he was gone when he asked for another drink and nobody commented on it. He was going to get so hammered that night that he would forget everything about Lily and Derek and how much he hurt. McLaggen just had to wait and see.

“Are you drinking alone?” said a silky voice at his back. “I thought you said you had a date for tonight.”

Hugo swallowed loudly, his back suddenly stiffening up at the words. Marie was going to never let it go, especially because he had repeated ad nauseam that he was coming with Lily that night.

Her white hand came to rest on his forearm, then she squeezed him gently. “Hey, what happened?” she asked softly. “Why are you here all alone?”

Hugo wanted to snap at her, too, just like he had done with John, but something in the way her thumb rubbed against his arm through his shirt made him desist. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he replied, instead.

“Is it Lily?” Marie pressed on. “Where is she?”

“Home,” he replied curtly. He wanted to add that she was ill, but Marie spoke before he could.

“Why? How can she be home when you invited her to _this_.” She gestured around herself and tilted her head to get closer to Hugo. “Doesn’t she know that this is the chance of a lifetime? That she shouldn’t waste it if she’s serious about being a Quidditch Correspondent?”

Hugo nodded slightly, his eyes fixed on the glass in front of him. She was right.

“Not to mention that she was exceptionally rude to you,” she added in a whisper, her mouth a breath away from Hugo’s ear, her other hand in his curls. “You invited her, you expected her to be excited. At least as excited as you were, right?”

“Yes,” he whispered.

“You expected her to care about this, about you, just as much as you care about her.”

“I did,” he breathed.

“Poor Hugo,” she murmured, placing a lingering kiss on his cheek. “She was a downright bitch for ditching you.”

Hugo let her push her hand into his and laced his fingers with hers.

“She went to Derek,” he said, his voice slightly slurred. “She’s with him, now.”

“God,” said Marie, pressing her soft breasts against Hugo’s arm. “What a horrible person. I can’t even start to imagine how you feel now, honey.”

Hugo shook his head. “Like shit,” he admitted.

“I bet you do,” whispered Marie. She brought her hand to his cheek and cupped it in her palm, making him turn to look at her. She was a vision. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, her skin was glowing, and her cleavage was showed off by her gorgeous dress. She looked like a model out of a magazine. “I bet you hate to feel like that,” she added, getting closer to him. “I bet you want to forget about her and all that pain.”

“I do,” he breathed, his eyes lowering on her petal-rose lips before going back to her eyes. “So much.”

She smiled gently. “I can help, Hugo,” she said, and he could almost feel the words against his mouth as she got even closer. “I can help you forget her.” She closed her eyes and finally touched her lips against his.

Hugo blinked as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. He draped his own arms around her tiny body to steady himself. Everything was spinning around him, but he wasn’t sure it was because of the girl in his arms, or because of the alcohol.

The kiss was nice. Her lips were soft and wet, and they tasted insistently of lipstick. Marie’s demanding tongue pushed forcefully against Hugo’s, and her hands were not particularly unpleasant as they tugged at his locks.

But he wasn’t feeling that buzzing in his ears, nor that tingly sensation that made all his extremities go numb, nor that excitement in his lower abdomen. It must have been the alcohol, he was already wasted, and that was why he couldn’t feel anything for Marie. It was as if this was not him. As if he wasn’t really kissing her, but looking at himself kissing her.

“Wow,” she whispered as she detached her lips from his. “That was… _wow_ …” She smiled and bit her bottom lip. “Let’s go upstairs,” she whispered.

“Upstairs?” asked Hugo, without understanding.

“Yes,” she giggled, grabbing his wrist in both her hands and dragging him to his feet. “There are rooms upstairs that guests can use.” She winked at him and pulled him with her through a door.

Hugo stumbled over his feet, but Marie managed to keep him upright.

“Come on,” she said as she started climbing up some stairs.

“What?” The staircase was spinning. No, the whole mansion was spinning. He had wanted to get wasted and his wish had been granted, and now that he was moving, being pulled and pushed up the stairs, the queasiness rose in his stomach.

Marie was laughing every time he tripped over a step, and she was pulling him more insistently whenever he stopped to catch his breath and try to quell his nausea.

He felt breathless and all he wanted was to stop, wriggle free from her grasp and go back downstairs, maybe find a loo, and push his face in a bucket filled with water until he was sober again.

“Come on, Hugo,” giggled Marie, pulling him forward. “Almost there.”

He let her guide him. He felt like he was in a dream. Was this even real? She was beautiful and she was throwing herself at him, but she had lied to him. Hugo didn’t feel better as she had promised he would feel, she hadn’t made him forget about Lily.

“Here,” she said excitedly. “This one’s free.”

She pushed a door open and they stumbled inside. The bedroom was gorgeous, every inch of it covered in blue brocades and golden velvet.

Hugo took a sharp breath as he was pushed down on the bed.

“I’ve waited all summer for this,” said Marie, sitting down next to him and smiling impishly at him. “All summer, no man has resisted me like this before…”

Hugo closed his eyes for a moment.

“Say that you want me, Hugo,” she whispered as she lay down next to him and pressed her knee against his groin. “Say it…”

“I…”

“Yes,” she said, trailing kisses all over his jaw. “Say it.”

He took a sharp breath. “I want you, Lily,” he blurted out. “I so fucking want you.”

Her ministrations stopped abruptly. She withdrew and grabbed his chin, jerking his head towards her. “Look at me,” she said coldly. “I’m not Lily.”

“No,” he said, as his eyelids fluttered open and he shook his head.

“I’m Marie,” she gritted through her teeth. “Don’t get it wrong next time.” She let him go and lay down again, this time on top of him. She pressed her lips against his again and started to kiss him leisurely.

He let her do it because even the smallest movement on that soft bed was a torture, he felt a migraine blooming behind his eyes, and his throat was tight as he tried to keep his nausea at bay.

It had never been like this with Lily. It had always been gentle and loving and amazing. Something that it wasn’t right now. Oh, God! What was he doing? “Lily,” he murmured. “I love you, Lily…”

“Shut it,” hissed Marie, kissing him to silence. “God. Shut up if you can’t say my name.”

He shut up, but only because something sour was raising up at the back of his throat and he didn’t seem able to stop it.

“No,” he gasped against Marie’s lips. He pushed her back with all his forces and pushed himself up into a seated position.

“Hugo! No!” huffed Marie, her arms wrapping tightly around his stomach. “Look at me! It’s me. Remember? We kissed on that beach, we—”

Hugo never got to know what else Marie thought was worth mentioning about their non-existent and delusional story, because the moment her hands tried to turn his head towards her and make him look at her again, he finally felt the vomit in his mouth and all he could do was puking all over her beautiful dress.

She let him go at once, jumping away from him as if he had thrown up lava and set her dress on fire, and he just brought a hand to his stomach, where his abdomen was contracting painfully.

“Oh my God!” cried Marie. “You are a freak!” She let out a disgusted sound. “You threw up on my dress! That’s sick! Oh, God! How could you? Do you even know how expensive this is?”

Hugo looked at her. His head had cleared enough to understand that she was fuming and that it was all his fault. “I’m sorry,” he babbled. “Lily, I’m so sorry…”

“Shut up! You fucking idiot,” she snarled. “Call me Lily another time and I’ll Banish your dick!”

“I… I…”

Marie shook her head angrily. “Jerk,” she spluttered, finally turning on her heels and walking away. She opened and closed the door with much more force than it was required and Hugo just stared as pieces of plaster fell to the ground.

“Fuck,” he mumbled before letting himself fall back on the bed. “Fuck, Lily… I’m so sorry…”

***

From Chapter XXXIV

Hugo just stood there, staring at the place where Lily had disappeared. His eyes wide, the blood hammering in his temples, his hands shaking.

“No,” he whispered; his slurred voice, the same that had called Lily all sorts of names a few seconds before, felt disgusting to his ears, now. “No…”

He turned around, stumbling over his own feet as he made his way to the bathroom. He turned on the water and splashed his face. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Where was the Sobering Potion? No, wait. Why was he standing in the bathroom? They kept it in the kitchen. What was he doing? What had happened? Why had he said those things to her? Why? Where was the Sobering Potion? No, the fucking kitchen!

“Lily,” he mumbled stupidly, rubbing a coarse towel all over his face. He raised his eyes and looked at his reflection.

His eyes were bloodshot red, his face pale. He looked like shit.

He felt like shit.

“Fuck,” he slurred. “Fuck!” He slapped his hands on the edge of the basin; the dull pain against his palms a welcome punishment for his actions.

He threw the towel to the floor and kicked it away. He looked at his reflection again and gritted his teeth. “Fuck!” he slurred for the third time, punching the wall near the mirror with all his forces. He felt a slight crack in his bones, but he would break his whole arm if that helped to make things better with her. He punched the same spot again and again until little drops of blood were finally staining the tiles, and still he didn’t stop.

All he could think about was Lily. All he could see was her distraught face. All he could hear were her sobs and her voice as she screamed that she hated him. That he shouldn’t touch her. That she didn’t want to see him anymore.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, something warm and wet rolling down his cheek while blood was dripping down his knuckles.

“Hugo?”

He blinked at the voice that came from the door. He raised his head and turned around. “Lily?” he whispered hopefully. “Lily…”

He brushed his hands over his suit and walked on his unstable legs towards the living room.

“Lily!” he said breathlessly as he stumbled over Rufus and had to grab the wall to keep himself upright.

He stopped dead when he saw the man standing near the sofa. His heart skipped a beat as he stared into Uncle Harry’s worried eyes.

“Hugo,” he said, stepping towards him. “What the hell happened?”

His sight blurred with more tears and he sobbed out loud before he could form any word at all. “Uncle Harry,” he sniffled. “Lily… I don’t know where she is. I… I…”

“Lily is at Grimmauld Place,” he said, raising a hand as if to calm him, and taking another step towards him. “She was Splinched and in shock when she arrived. But Dominique is taking care of her now.” He looked from Hugo’s face to his shaky hands and took another step towards him. “But what the hell happened?”

“Is she alright?” asked Hugo raggedly. “Is she?”

“She’s going to be alright,” said Uncle Harry. “She’s going to sleep it off, but—”

“Oh, thank God,” whispered Hugo, closing his eyes. “Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.”

“Hugo.” Uncle Harry’s tone was firm and harsher than Hugo had expected. “What happened?”

Hugo took a step back, suddenly the flat was spiralling around him, twisting and spinning and everything was pulsing. “It’s all my fault,” he whispered. “It’s all my fault, Uncle Harry.” He stepped back again, and he found himself seated on a kitchen chair. He blinked in front of him, unable to look at Uncle Harry as he recounted the events of that damn night.

“I was angry with her,” he sobbed. “Because she was late to the party, and she… she thinks I slept with Marie, but I didn’t. I swear to God, Uncle Harry, I didn’t.”

“Okay,” said Uncle Harry, walking to him and crouching next to him. “Did you have a fight?”

Hugo nodded and stared at his bloodied hands. “I called her names that I didn’t mean,” he sobbed. “I said horrible things to her, but I didn’t mean any of them, I swear, Uncle Harry. I… I was drunk… I am drunk. I… I… I just wanted her to suffer, because… because I was suffering, too. Because she was with Derek and I… I just…” He took a deep breath, but his head didn’t clear up. “I’m a fucking idiot…”

Uncle Harry listened in silence as Hugo sobbed out the retelling of the night. “Okay,” he finally said. “Let’s go.” His warm hands slipped under Hugo’s arm and he pulled him to his feet with secure movements.

“Wh—where?” stammered Hugo as he looked at his uncle.

“To Grimmauld Place first,” he replied firmly. “You need to sober up and Dominique needs to have a look at your hands. And then to your parents’.”

Hugo let him guide him towards the fireplace. “Can I… Can I see Lily?” he whispered weakly.

Uncle Harry looked at him and smiled softly. “Of course, you can.”

***

The journey via Floo was hard on Hugo’s stomach, and the moment he set foot at Grimmauld Place, he heaved the content of his stomach on the expensive carpet of their sitting room.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled as Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny helped him up. “I’m sorry, Auntie. I’m sorry.”

They shushed him gently, then Dominique made him drink a strong Sobering Potion that made the alcohol-induced fog in his brain dissipate quicker than one of his father’s fireworks. However, he didn’t like how he felt now that his head had cleared up again. He didn’t like it one bit.

“Do your hands hurt?” asked Dominique gently as she Healed them quickly.

“Can I see her?” 

“In a minute,” she replied. “Can you move your fingers?”

“Yes. Can I see her now?”

“In a minute, Hugo,” she said patiently. “Let me just Heal you properly. You do want to be sure that you can grab a bat again, yes?”

He gritted his teeth and nodded curtly at his cousin. “Is she okay?” he asked feebly. “Uncle Harry said that she Splinched herself.”

“I Healed her,” replied Dominique calmly. “She’s as good as new. Touch your thumb and pinkie together.”

“I’m fine, Dom, I’m fine, I swear!” he gritted through his teeth. “See?” he added as he did what he was told. “Can I see her now? I need to see her.”

Dominique looked over his shoulder, probably at Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny, then back at Hugo. “She’s sleeping, though,” she said firmly. “I gave her a Sleeping Potion. Do you understand me, Hugo? She’s not going to wake up until tomorrow.”

“I just… I just want to see her,” mumbled Hugo. “I just want to see her.”

Dominique nodded slowly and stood up.

“She’s in our room,” said Auntie Ginny. “Come.”

Hugo followed her as if he was in a trance. The stairs that led to the first floor seemed such a gigantic challenge for him and he just dragged his feet up as if he couldn’t even bear to move.

Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry’s room was lighted by the faint halo of a single candle that stood straight on Aunt Ginny’s bedside table. Hugo stopped on the door and looked at Lily’s sleeping face, his heart skipping a beat as he took in her beautiful face and her hair that was fanning out on the pillow like flames.

Hugo sniffled and made his way to the bed. “Oh, Lily,” he sobbed as he sat near her. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” He stretched a hand towards her face, but didn’t brush his fingers on her smooth skin. He didn’t even dare to touch her hair. Her words, tinged with disgust and hate, were still weighing heavily on Hugo’s heart.

“Hugo,” said Aunt Ginny sternly. “What happened?”

“I… I hurt her,” he whispered. “I love her and I hurt her.”

Aunt Ginny sighed. “No, I mean what really happened. You were both so happy to go to the party. What happened?”

Hugo swallowed loudly. “I love her, Auntie Ginny,” he confessed. “I really love her.”

“I know,” she said calmly.

“No, you don’t know. I… I kissed her. She kissed me. I… This was supposed to be our night, we…”

“Hugo,” she said firmly. “Believe me, I know. What happened tonight?”

Hugo closed his eyes and shook his head. “She was late for the party,” she said, “and I waited for her, but I told her that the party was important and… I thought she just forgot about it.”

“Was she with Derek?” asked Aunt Ginny softly.

Hugo nodded and looked at her through the tears. “I got pissed at the party and when Lily came she thought… she thought that I was with Marie, but—”

“You weren’t.”

Hugo swallowed. “I was, but… but we didn’t do anything. I just puked all over her expensive dress. I swear, Auntie.”

Aunt Ginny wrinkled her nose at the idea. “Oh, Hugo,” she sighed.

“When I got home,” he went on. “She was waiting for me. And I… I was… I was horrible to her. I made her cry and I tried to kiss her… and I… I…”

“You were upset.”

“I was a fucking idiot,” he mumbled.

“You were drunk and upset. She was upset and—”

“I made her upset.”

“Hugo—”

“No, no. It’s all my fault.” He looked at Lily and bit down hard on his bottom lip. “I love her so much, Auntie. I swear I do. She’s everything to me.”

“And she loves you, Hugo.”

“No, she doesn’t. Not after tonight.”

Lily took a sharp breath and her eyelids moved, but she didn’t wake up.

Aunt Ginny took a step towards him, then her hand was on his shoulder and she was squeezing him gently. “Let’s go, Hugo,” she said gently. “I’ll take you to your parents’.”

Hugo shook his head, but let his aunt help him to his feet. “My dad will go batty,” he mumbled disconsolately.

“Your dad _is_ batty, Hugo,” replied Aunt Ginny with a smile. “Not much we can do about that.”

***

Hugo was very resolute about his decision of skipping breakfast. No matter how much his stomach grumbled nor if his father came and ordered him to get downstairs and sit at the table with him and his mother and tell them everything about the night before. He would not go. That was final.

“Hugo Weasley,” thundered his mother as she knocked loudly on his bedroom door at seven in the morning. “Get yourself downstairs in five minutes.”

Oh, God. They knew his weakness. He couldn’t say no to his mother.

“Mum…”

“Now, Hugo!”

He sighed and pushed away the covers of his old bed. He glared at the door and sighed again. “You’ve just said five minutes,” he protested weakly, but the tell-tale sound of her steps on the wooden floor let him know that she had already gone back downstairs.

He made his way to the bathroom, washed his face but avoided looking in the mirror, and finally made his way downstairs.

His parents were both seated at the breakfast table. There was a cup of tea and some biscuits laid out for him, but Hugo wasn’t really hungry at all. He didn’t look at either of them as he made his way towards a chair and sat down heavily on it.

“Start from the beginning,” said his father severely. “And don’t skip anything because, I swear Hugo, next time Ginny wakes us up in the middle of the night, bringing you here while you look less alive than Nearly-Headless Nick and telling us that Lily is a mess, too, I—”

“Ron,” said her mother calmly. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly fine explanation. Come on, Hugo, let’s hear it.”

Hugo took a deep breath, closed his eyes and threw himself in the umpteenth recount of the events of the night before. God. How could it be that, even after all these times, it still hurt like hell to remember Lily’s face and her words?

When he finished, his tea had gone cold and his parents didn’t utter a word for the longest time.

Finally, his father took a sharp breath. “When you say that you love Lily. You don’t—”

“Yes, I mean that I’m in love with her,” said Hugo firmly, looking at him. “That I love her like I’ve never loved anybody else.”

He slapped his thigh. “I knew it!” he said, looking at Hugo’s mother. “Didn’t I tell you that there was something between them, Hermione? Back in Penzance, didn’t I?”

His mother nodded and rolled her eyes subtly. “You did, Ron,” she sighed.

His father looked particularly proud of himself, but when he glanced back at Hugo, he was serious again. “You are in love with Lily.”

“Yes,” replied Hugo just as seriously.

“ _Our_ Lily,” he said just like Fred had said that night.

“Yes.”

“Your own cousin.”

“Yes.”

“And you really think that’s—”

“Ron,” said his mother warningly.

His father looked at her. “I’m not saying no,” he hurried to add. “I mean, Lily is adorable, sweet, kind, intelligent, beautiful, and I love her to bits.” He looked back at Hugo. “I’m just saying that if it goes bad. She’s your cousin. She’s there. You’re bound to see her and forever be reminded of what you had with her.”

Hugo’s shoulders hunched forward. “It has already gone bad, Dad,” he mumbled. “I screwed it up. Irreparably.”

His parents didn’t reply. They agreed with him. They just did.

“Alright,” said his mother slowly. “Listen, Hugo. You were both upset last night. You had your trials the other day; you had interviews and photoshoots and stuff, and the party… And Lily was breaking up with her boyfriend—”

“He was _not_ her boyfriend,” grumbled Hugo.

His mother took a deep breath. “But they were close,” she said. “And it’s not easy to break up with someone, even when you don’t really love them that way or if you think you don’t care.”

“I said horrible things to her, Mum,” mumbled Hugo. “She hates me, now.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t,” said his mother kindly. “She just needs a bit of time. And you do, too, Hugo.”

“I don’t need time, Mum, I need Lily.”

Her parents exchanged a surreptitious glance. Then they turned again towards him.

“Listen, son,” said his father. “How about, you just relax for a while? You don’t start your trainings until later this month, right? You can stay here, enjoy the quiet, don’t think about _her_.”

“I cannot _not_ think about her, Dad,” sighed Hugo.

“Yeah, alright, we get it, you’re in love,” huffed his father. “But if you don’t try to forget her how are you supposed to heal your broken heart?”

Hugo looked at him, horrified. “But I don’t want to forget Lily!” he protested.

His father raised his hands in defeat. “Alright then,” he grumbled. “Stay here and torture yourself.” He stood up and placed his cup of tea in the sink. “I’m off to work. I’ll come home for lunch and we’ll talk a bit more, okay?”

Hugo lowered his eyes. “If you insist.”

“I do,” he replied firmly. He lowered his head and planted a kiss on his mother’s lips. “See you, later, Hermione.”

“Bye, Ron. Have a nice day.”

Hugo waited until the swish of the Floo reassured him that his father had left, then he sighed and finally looked at his mother. “I ruined everything, didn’t I?” he mumbled.

His mother smiled gently. “Every love story worth of that name has some glitches, Hugo,” she told him calmly. “Look at your father and me.”

Hugo lowered his head again. “Thanks, Mum…”

She stood up and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Lily loves you, Hugo,” she said gently. “Don’t ever doubt that. Your father is right: you just need a bit of time to heal your broken heart.”

Hugo nodded disconsolately; he grabbed his cold cup of tea and brought it to his lips.

It was disgusting.

Just like he felt.

***

“Hugo? Are you there?”

Hugo groaned against the cushions of the sofa in his flat and raised his head. “Yeah,” he replied, looking at the fireplace where his sister’s head was staring sternly back at him.

“I just talked to Mum and Auntie Ginny,” she said. “I’m speechless.”

Hugo sunk his face back into the cushion. “That’s a first,” he sighed.

“You have to go and apologise to her,” she said firmly, “and do it soon.”

“I don’t think she wants to see me, Rose, let alone listening to me,” he mumbled. “I made a mess.”

“You did,” replied Rose sternly. “Telling her those things… Honestly, Hugo, you shouldn’t get wasted like that. It’s clear that you lose control when you do.”

“I’m a horrible human being,” he murmured. “I’m a monster. Who hurts the person they love like that? Only a monster.”

Rose sighed. “Listen, James is pretty pissed with you, at the moment. And Al, too, but James is the one you should keep away from.”

Hugo grabbed the cushion and pushed it over his head. “Maybe he should come here and kill me,” he said feebly. “That would put an end to my suffering.”

“What?” asked Rose, her voice muffled by the cushion around his ears.

“Nothing,” he mumbled, taking the cushion away. “Why are you Floo Calling me, Rose?”

“Because I’m worried about you and because Dad asked me to check if you were here, since he’s convinced that you had a lunch date with him at Mum and Dad’s house.”

“Oh, crap,” muttered Hugo, pushing himself up. “We did. I lost track of the time.”

“Why did you come here anyway?” asked Rose, looking around at the place. “Is that blood on the floor?”

“Because this is my house, ta very much. And I had to feed Rufus,” he said, nodding towards the kitten sleeping under the coffee table and completely ignoring her question about the blood.

“Well, Dad wants to talk to you,” she reiterated. “So get back to their house right now, alright?”

Hugo sighed. “Yeah.”

“Good boy,” she said patronisingly. “Good boy.”

***

“Hugo. You remember Parvati, my friend from school, don’t you? I told you about her, right?”

Hugo looked up from his untouched lasagne. His father was smiling and looking at him as if he felt like he was about to solve all of Hugo’s problems with a flick of his wand. Hugo closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. He knew what was really about to happen, instead. It had happened repeatedly over the past three days. His father was going to say something completely idiotic, and Hugo was just going to storm away. He was sure about that.

Hugo sighed. “The one you went to the Yule Ball with?” he asked sullenly.

His father took a deep breath. “No, that was Padma, her sister,” he explained patiently. “She was Uncle Harry’s date at the Yule Ball.”

Hugo nodded and poked his lasagne.

“She moved to India after she graduated,” his father went on, “married and had three daughters.”

Hugo hummed uninterestingly.

“And one of them—what are the odds—just turned eighteen,” he said cheerfully. “They came to the shop this morning and boy! She’s an absolute delight.”

“Ron,” sighed his mother. “Please, don’t.”

“I’m just saying,” went on his father, “she’s pretty, intelligent, well-mannered and _single_.”

Hugo closed his eyes and stabbed the lasagne.

“How do you even know?” asked his mother.

“I asked, of course,” replied his father as if that was perfectly normal. “I was just being polite.”

“You were prying, Ron. You’ve probably scared the poor girl.”

“Anyway,” he went on. “I told her that I have a handsome son who has a promising Quidditch career ahead of him and who needs some—”

“No,” said Hugo sullenly.

“You don’t even—”

“I know,” he muttered. “And I don’t want to.”

“Are you sure? She is really pretty,” he said with a grin.

Hugo rolled his eyes and pushed his fork into the lasagne until it scraped the plate. “She can be as beautiful as a Veela, for all I care,” he muttered. “I’m not interested.”

His father placed his fork down on the plate and folded his arms across his chest. “Well, what do you want to do, then?” he asked firmly. “Spend the rest of your life writing love letters that you’re throwing away before you even have the courage to owl them? Listen to the whole repertoire of Celestina Warbeck until you drive us all up the wall? Cry yourself to sleep night after night?”

“Yes,” he grunted. “I’d rather do that than go out with someone else.”

“You don’t have to go out with her,” said his father patiently. “You have to accompany her to get an ice-cream and maybe show her a bit of Diagon Alley.”

“Ron…”

“I’d rather fly to the roof of Grimmauld Place and throw myself off of it,” snapped Hugo, looking at him angrily.

“Hugo!” gasped his mother. “Don’t even joke about these things!”

“I’m not joking,” he grunted. He pushed himself back from the table and stood up. “Thank you for dinner, but I’m not hungry.”

“Where are you going?” asked his father, standing up, too.

“Home,” he replied sourly, ignoring their voices that became more and more pleadingly as he left.

***

> ~~Dear Lily,~~
> 
> ~~How are you?~~
> 
> ~~Hope you’re well.~~
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Lily—I miss you.~~
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Lily,~~
> 
> ~~I’m so sorry. I’m an idiot. I love you so much, I’m hurting everywhere. Please, can I see you? Just see you five minutes, please. I miss you so much. Please, Lily.~~  
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Lily,~~
> 
> ~~You’re everything to me. I need you like I need air. No, I need you more than air. I need to see you.~~
> 
> ~~Lily. Lily. Lily. Lily. Lils. Lily Pad. Lily Flower. Tiger Lily. Lily Luna Weasley. Doesn’t it sound nice?~~
> 
> ~~I hate myself, Lily. I’m an idiot.~~

***

“I know what you want. You want your mummy, don’t you?” Hugo rubbed Rufus between his ears and the kitten purred sadly and nuzzled Hugo’s chin. “I want her, too, you know. It’s definitely not the same here without her. And it’s all my fault if she left, Rufus. You should bite me and scratch me, because I was an idiot. I hurt her, and I made her cry.” Hugo sighed and shook his head. “Ah, why am I saying these things to you? You were here, you saw everything.” He looked sadly at the kitten. “You miss her, don’t you? I know how you feel. I miss her, too.”

Rufus purred loudly and jumped forward, trying to bite Hugo’s fingers and to scratch his hand with his tiny claws. He didn’t do much damage at all, and Hugo found himself wishing his Kneazle were a bit bigger, so that he could tear through his flesh and hurt him, punish him for the way he treated his mummy.

“Oh, Rufus,” sighed Hugo, pulling him to his chest and squishing him in a comforting hug. “I’m not worthy of her forgiveness, am I?” he whispered. “But you don’t deserve to suffer because of me.” He kissed the kitten between his ears and nodded. “I’ll take you to Grimmauld Place. At least you will be able to be with her.” He sighed again. “I envy you, you know? I bet she’s going to hug you and kiss you and let you sleep with her.” Hugo grabbed him under his belly and brought him to eye level.

“Hmm,” he pondered. “Probably, I shouldn’t bring you to her. I don’t want you to sleep with her. She’s mine, you know. All mine. All, all, all mine.” He sniffled loudly and shook his head. “All mine…” he whispered. “And I should do everything I can to win her back.”

***

“Hugo, what are you doing?” asked his mother as she opened the door to his old room and peered inside. “I’ve just got a—oh, my…”

Her face was horrified as she looked at the pile of clothes on the floor and at the shoes that were lying _everywhere_.

He couldn’t care one bit. This was an emergency, did she not notice?

“I’m dressing up,” he replied brightly, turning around and smoothing his shirt into his trousers.

“I can see that,” replied his mother unsurely. “Are you… are you going out with Parvati’s daughter?”

“Who?” he asked distractedly. “No, no. I’m going to Grimmauld Place.”

“Grimmauld Place?” she asked feebly. “To do what?”

“I’ve ordered flowers,” he said cheerfully. “I’m going to go there and bring them to Lily. And I’ve spent the whole night writing to her—”

“The whole night?”

“Yes, I wrote her letters,” he said, refraining to mention that one of those letters was addressed to Lavender and that most of the others were too sappy for him to ever find the courage to send them. “And I’m going there, and she will have to agree to least talk to me.”

“Hugo,” sighed his mother, “I told you that I went to see her the other day, right?”

“Yes, Mum,” he replied lightly, knotting his tie, before unknotting it again. “I asked you to tell me about it five times, remember?”

“I do,” she replied. “Of course, I do. Your father was begging me to stop talking at some point. Listen, maybe wait a bit longer? A couple of days top… She just looked still quite… angry.”

“No,” said Hugo calmly. “You see, that’s the thing, Mum. She surely thinks that I don’t care about her, because I’m not even trying to talk to her, and I don’t want that. I want her to know that I love her, that I can’t stop thinking about her, that I want her with every fibre of my body.”

“I’m sure she—”

“No, she doesn’t know,” said Hugo passionately. “I need to prove it to her. She needs to see it with her own eyes.”

***

Hugo stood straight and nervous in front of the main door of Grimmauld Place. He had already knocked twice and nobody was coming to open the door. Was he really that unwelcome there? Not even Auntie Ginny or Uncle Harry would come out to tell him that Lily didn’t want to see him? Was that his fate? To stand outside that door until the—

“Uncle Harry!” he breathed, feeling relief washing suddenly over him as his uncle opened the door.

“Hugo,” he said nervously. “Hey. How is it going?”

“Bad,” he said matter-of-factly. “Is Lily… Is she… I… I brought her flowers.”

Uncle Harry looked at the lilies in his arms. “I see,” he replied. “Thank you, Hugo. She’ll love them for sure, but… I… I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come in. Not right now. Maybe give her a bit more time?”

Hugo nodded disconsolately. “I… Can you give her the flowers anyway?” he asked softly. “And this, please.” He handed him the little note he had written for her.

“Of course,” said Uncle Harry, smiling.

“Was she happy to see Rufus?” he asked anxiously.

Uncle Harry smiled gently. “Very happy,” he replied. “She’s spent the last few hours squeezing the poor thing as if he had been lost for years.”

Hugo sighed and smiled. “He is one lucky Kneazle.”

“Yeah,” said Uncle Harry softly. “He didn’t look too happy to be manhandled like that, though.”

Hugo pouted. “Lily doesn’t manhandle him,” he replied indignantly. “She loves him, and any creature on this earth would be lucky to be squeezed in her embrace.”

“Of course, of course,” Uncle Harry hurried to say. “Listen, Hugo, I really have to go back up, now. But you don’t worry one bit, okay? I’m sure she’ll talk to you soon. Okay?”

Hugo nodded disconsolately. “Thank you, Uncle Harry.”

His uncle smiled, patted Hugo’s shoulder gently, and finally walked back inside, closing the door at his back.

***

Even though Hugo was dreading the possibility of meeting James at the Burrow that Sunday, he was dreading even more the possibility of missing Lily in case she went to Sunday dinner at their grandparents’.

He needn’t have worried, though; Lily was not there.

James was, but luckily, so was everybody else, and they wouldn’t allow for one cousin to kill the other, not even when Hugo would have been happy to offer himself freely as a sacrifice to atone for his sins.

“Get close to my brother again and I’ll hex your arse,” hissed Rose, not loud enough to let Grandma Molly hear her.

“Rose…” groaned Hugo.

“Zip it,” she hissed at her own brother. “You were a git, too, don’t worry, but at least you don’t go around playing the part of the big bad Auror with people who don’t even want to defend themselves.”

“Tell me I was not right to beat the shit out of your brother,” hissed James back, wiggling without being able to break free from Albus’ grasp. “He’s the reason why my sister’s home alone, crying her eyes out, instead of being here with her family.”

“You were not right,” growled Rose. “You just lose your head when it’s up to Lily.”

“And you don’t when it’s up to Hugo?” barked James.

“What the hell is going on?” snapped Teddy as he came to stand between the two cousins. “Your grandma is crying in the kitchen because she thinks that Lily will never talk to Hugo again, and you’re here fighting like children?”

“It’s her who’s—”

“He’s the one—”

“Out,” ordered Teddy. “All three of you.” He looked from Hugo to Rose to James and pointed towards the door. “Now.”

Rose and James grumbled and pouted like children at the very thought that Teddy was talking to them as if they were five again, but they made their way towards the garden without as much as a glance at their other cousins, who were sighing and shaking their heads.

The moment they set foot outside, Rose and James started talking at the same time, accusing each other – and Hugo and Lily – for their current situation.

“Shut up,” growled Teddy. “Both of you.”

They did so very quickly.

“First of all, this is between Hugo and Lily,” he said firmly. “And they really don’t need their siblings to start a family feud.” He looked at James. “Do you think Lily would be happy to know that you beat Hugo?”

“She already knows,” muttered James, pushing his hands into his pockets and kicking a clamp of dirt. “She was ecstatic.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Teddy matter-of-factly. “Had she been there that night, she would have hexed your bollocks off.” 

James’ face darkened and he looked away from Teddy.

“And you,” Teddy said to Rose. “Boils? Really? What are you? Twelve?”

Rose blushed crimson and glared at Teddy. “He is the one who—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Rose,” he said firmly. “You two have done enough. And you.” He turned towards Hugo. “What are you doing here?”

Hugo’s shoulders hunched forward. “I thought… I just thought…”

“Why aren’t you at Grimmauld Place?”

“Teddy!” protested James.

“Do you know what Ginny says?” he asked Hugo. “That Lily stares at you from Albus’ window every time you go there.” 

Hugo’s heart jolted in his chest. “Does she?” he asked breathily. “Really?”

Teddy nodded. “Yes,” he replied calmly. “Every time.”

“That’s because she wants to make sure that he isn’t going in,” grunted James.

“Git,” hissed Rose. “She wants to talk to Hugo; she just doesn’t know if she’s ready.”

“Of course she’s not ready,” said James. “He broke her heart.”

Teddy placed both hands on Hugo’s shoulders and pushed him away from James and Rose. They didn’t even notice as they raised their voices again to start a new quarrel.

“Listen,” he whispered. “I’ll admit it: this is not a nice situation.”

Hugo exhaled deeply. “I know,” he said. “And it’s all my fault.”

“Mostly yes, but not all,” said Teddy. “Look, I don’t know how this is going to end between you and Lily, Hugo. What I know is that our family is far too amazing to allow that the two of you fall out like that.”

Hugo shook his head. “She really doesn’t want to talk to me, though, Teddy.”

“You know our Lily, don’t you?” he grinned. “She likes to know that you’re ready to make an effort for her. She can’t just forgive you like that.”

Hugo smiled sadly. “But do you think she should forgive me, Teddy?” he asked quietly. “Or do you think she should stay miles away from me? I hurt her and scared her; I might do that again. What if I can’t control it? What if I can’t control myself? I’m a monster…”

“Hugo. You’re not a monster.”

“But—”

“The only thing I know is that I’ve never seen her looking at anybody else the way she looks at you,” he said softly. “And vice versa.”

Hugo smiled dejectedly. “I love her.”

“I know.”

“A lot.”

“I know.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know,” said Teddy calmly. “It is scary.”

“Thank you,” he sighed dejectedly.

“Does it help if I tell you that Victoire, Remus, and I are rooting for you?”

Hugo’s smile turned into a grin at that. “Yeah,” he replied. “Thank you, Teddy.”

“No problem,” he said, patting his shoulder. “Off you go, now, to bring flowers to your flower.”

Hugo shook his head at the awful line, but grinned and finally closed his eyes and Disapparated home. He donned his best suit and knotted a tie around his neck, then he was off to Diagon Alley, desperately looking for an open florist, and finally, once he had managed to find a beautiful bunch of expensive roses, he made his way to Grimmauld Place.

His hands were shaking and his heart was beating furiously against his ribcage. He thought intensely of his uncle and aunt’s house and finally the door appeared in front of him.

He swallowed loudly and walked through the path that led to the entrance. He knocked and closed his eyes, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing happened, though. Not for the longest time. He waited with his heart in his throat and the flowers in his hands and the tie choking him as he breathed in some sharp gasps.

Then he opened his eyes again, took a deep breath and turned around. He looked up at Albus’ window and felt his blood pulsing painfully in his temples.

And God. Lily _was_ there. She really was. And she was looking at him and she was beautiful. She was looking as if he had surprised her doing something illicit, but he just felt like he was walking on a cloud at the thought that she was spying on him.

He raised a hand to wave shyly at her, and he hoped that she couldn’t see the trembling of his fingers as he did.

She didn’t smile back at him, and when he raised the flowers to show them to her, she raised her chin and stared straight at him.

He stared back at her for what felt like ages. His head was swimming happily at the thought that she was acknowledging the fact that he was there, but he was unable to do or say anything. He couldn’t point to the door to ask her to let him in, he couldn’t try to beg her to listen to him as he apologised until his mouth was dry, he couldn’t kneel down and ask for forgiveness.

He just stared at her, at her beautiful and pale face, at her minute body wrapped in an old t-shirt. Until she turned away and walked away from the window.

He waited a bit longer, but she never came to open the door and, in the end, he convinced himself that she was gone and was not coming back.

He left the flowers on the doorstep, looked at the window one more time, and finally Disapparated.

***

“Hugo.”

“Dad.”

“What are you doing?”

Hugo didn’t look away from the pictures that he had spread all over his bed. “Nothing,” he sighed.

He still didn’t look up when his dad walked to him and peered down at the photographs from over his shoulder.

“Oh, Hugo…”

“Isn’t she beautiful, Dad?” he asked with a sigh. “She’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in all my life.”

His dad sighed loudly. “She’s definitely pretty, but she looks too much like your Aunt Ginny for me to be able to say these things without gagging,” he replied calmly. “So, I’m off for a bit. You’ll be alright here? Home alone for half an hourish?”

“Yeah,” sighed Hugo, still not looking up from the pictures.

“Alright,” replied his dad. “Just to be clear, you still don’t want to go out with Parvati’s daughter, right?”

Hugo didn’t even deign him of an answer.

“Right,” sighed his father. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

Hugo nodded, but he didn’t tear his eyes away from Lily’s pictures. If he couldn’t have the real Lily, he’d have thousands of her copies.

***

“Are you serious?” Hugo’s voice was wondrous and shaky at the same time.

“Yes,” said Auntie Ginny. “But Hugo I don’t—”

He threw his arms around her neck and hugged her forcefully. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What did she say? Did she say that she wanted to see me or that she couldn’t wait to see me or that she was looking forward to seeing me?”

Aunt Ginny wriggled free of his embrace. “I don’t think—”

“No, don’t tell me. Oh, God. It doesn’t matter, does it? Tonight? Did she say tonight? Oh, God. I have to go and buy some seafood. Like she said in her letter. I should buy the most expensive—”

“Hugo, please, don’t expect… too much. She’s still—”

“Yes, yes.” He wasn’t even listening to her. “Can you give her the flowers from me? Please? And can you tell her that I love her?”

“Maybe you can tell her that yourself?” asked Auntie Ginny as she took the flowers from his hands. “But please Hugo, just don’t—”

“Yes, I promise,” he laughed. “Oh, God. I can’t wait to see her.” He took a deep breath. “No, I’m not going to wait.” He nodded, turned, and looked up at the window.

She was there and she was glaring at him.

He didn’t care.

***

Hugo was freaking out.

Lily would be coming any minute now and he had burnt three lobsters – luckily he had bought eight, just in case –, broken three glasses and stained four shirts before he finally understood that it would be wise to Summon an apron.

God. He would see Lily, talk to her, and maybe, if he was lucky, he got to brush his fingers against hers.

He had to tell her everything. He had to tell her that he was in love in with her, he had to apologise, he had to tell her that he was a monster and that she couldn’t be with him. He had to tell her everything.

The key turned in the hole.

The door was slowly pushed open.

Hugo took a gasping breath.

And then time stopped.

***

From Chapter XXXV

Hugo’s arms clutched at Lily’s naked body as he dipped his nose in her locks. He smiled softly and kissed her neck and she stirred drowsily in his embrace, her body moving languidly in the bed at that ungodly hour.

She was soft, warm, and she smelled of sex and flowers. She was the most gorgeous thing he had ever held in his arms and he couldn’t believe that he would wake up next to her for the rest of his life.

Merlin. Yes. Hugo had known all along that this was heaven.

FIN


	37. Fanart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! 
> 
> Hello dear readers and friends and fellow Lugo shippers! I come to you bearing gifts in this cold January night! I know it's been months since the last chapter, or the bonus chapter or the sequel to this fic was posted, but I still love you and think about you all the time. And because of this, here I am! 
> 
> I asked the awesome **UptheHill** for a picture. She is an amazing artist - don't believe me? Please, do visit her SFW blog [here](http://upthehillart.tumblr.com/) but especially her NSFW blog [here](http://upthehillnsfw.tumblr.com/). And feel free to flail and comment and reblog and like and tell her just how amazing she is -, and she's the loveliest, sweetest, kindest person ever. She was a delight to exchange emails with and discuss what I wanted to see, and she interpreted the scene so well, I just keep losing myself in it (especially in Lily's face). Please, please, please, let her know how amazing she is. I'm going to give her the link to the story so that she can see all your love for this!
> 
> This is a scene from from Chapter 22. It's highly Not Safe For Work; please, view at your own risk. Thank you!

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/29855425@N08/35622447592/)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Lily Luna Potter's Best Birthday Ever](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6847414) by [Ely_Baby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ely_Baby/pseuds/Ely_Baby)




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